The Trump administration deployed a government plane to Cuba this week to return a 10-year-old child from Utah at the centre of a custody dispute involving gender identity. The child’s parent, Rose Inessa-Ethington, a transgender woman, is accused of taking the child to Cuba without the consent of the biological mother.
Federal and state authorities intervened after a family member raised concerns that Inessa-Ethington had travelled to Havana seeking gender transition surgery for the child. Rose Inessa-Ethington and her partner, Blue Inessa-Ethington, were arrested and charged in the US with international parental kidnapping.
The couple travelled with the child to Canada in late March, ostensibly for a camping trip, before flying to Mexico and then Cuba on 1 April, according to a criminal complaint. The charges do not specify whether the couple planned to obtain gender-affirming surgery in Cuba, as such surgery is not legal for children there.
The FBI found that Blue Inessa-Ethington withdrew $10,000 from her checking account before leaving, and agents discovered a note with instructions from a mental health therapist in Washington, DC, regarding gender-affirming medical care for children. The note did not mention Cuba.
The use of a Department of Justice plane in a parental kidnapping investigation comes amid the Trump administration’s efforts to block access to gender-affirming care for minors. The 10-year-old has been returned to the biological mother, and the couple face one count each of international parental kidnapping.
