The state’s ability to remove a child from their parents’ custody over gender-affirming care is raising questions about parental rights.
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The latest story to make national headlines is that of Joseph and Arlene Kutzko, whose 17-year-old daughter was taken out of their custody by the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families in 2025 after the Northborough-Southborough school where their daughter attended filed a complaint with the state department following a counseling session with the child, the parents told Massachusetts outlet NewsCenter 5.
“(She) went into school and Arlene got a call (from the school) … the call (was) that ‘(She) is scared to go home,’” the Kutzkos told the news outlet.
Joseph Kutzkos was reportedly arrested on charges of assault against the child, but has denied the allegations, and the claims have since been disproven, according to the news account.
The couple, who are devout Catholics, said they had no idea about what their daughter was going through until after she was taken, per the New York Post.
The Kutzkos’ attorney, Vernadette Broyles, president and general counsel of the Child and Parental Rights Campaign, said the state has been administering gender-affirming care against the will of her parents since she was 15.
“DCF, for whatever reason, has taken the position that they have total authority over this child even while the parents’ rights have not been terminated,” Broyles told NewsCenter 5. “There has never been a finding of unfitness against these parents.”
The couple is currently fighting the state in court to prevent the administration of testosterone to their daughter. Although they won in juvenile court, the legal battle continues.
“The court is not going to allow giving testosterone, because DCF took the position that giving testosterone at high doses to a female is ‘ordinary care,’” Broyles added.
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Becket joins another parent custody case
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty filed a friend-of-the-court brief Tuesday in a case regarding Washington state and its law allowing youth shelters to hide runaway teens from parents if the reason they left their homes was that they wish to seek gender transition.
In 2023, the Washington law was extended to provide an exception for runaway children who are pursuing a “gender transition,” even if their parents have not been abusive or neglectful.
Washington parents are fighting the law in International Partners for Ethical Care, Inc. v. Ferguson.
“In those cases, youth shelters must withhold the child’s whereabouts from the parents and notify the Washington Department of Children, Youth and Families instead,” per the Becket Fund. “State officials can then steer the child toward services that support that transition and delay the child’s return home with no set deadline.”
The amicus brief asks the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene and give parents the opportunity to fight in court before they lose custody of their child. It was filed on behalf of Mary and Jeremy Cox, Indiana parents who lost custody of their son after they refused to refer to him by anything other than his biological sex and given name.
By the time the courts deemed the Coxes fit parents, their son had reached the age of legal adulthood.
“We love our son, and we can never get back the years we lost with him or undo the damage that was done to our family,” said Mary and Jeremy Cox. “What we can do is tell our story so that others won’t have to endure the nightmare we did. We pray the Supreme Court will make sure parents like us can get into court to defend their families before it’s too late.”
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Arguments are scheduled for Dec. 7.