It's an insane state of affairs indeed when a state can step in and yank a teenage girl out of her home, can block the girl's parents and older brother from seeing or speaking with her, all because the family's faith precludes them from acknowledging her school-prompted "transgender" status and because they refused to call her a boy.
Now the daughter is a ward of the state of Massachusetts, and the parents are fighting to get her back.
A Massachusetts family says the state took custody of their teenage daughter after they refused to affirm her as a boy, citing their Catholic faith.
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 14, 2026
The parents allege a school counselor socially transitioned their daughter without their knowledge, then reported them to the… pic.twitter.com/cpHWhMHTXb
That conversation:
Bill Hemmer (host): A devout Catholic family in Massachusetts are locked a huge legal fight to stop the state from transitioning their teen daughter to a boy without their consent. Lauren Green's got more on this story, here in New York. What have you found out, Lauren, good morning.
Lauren Green: Hey Bill, you know, Joseph and Arlene Kutzko haven't spoken to their daughter since the end of 2024, after the Department of Children and Families (DCF) removed her from their home. The family claims it was because of their Catholic faith, that would not allow them to affirm their daughter as a boy. An emotional Joseph Kutzko reading the birthday card his daughter Sophie gave him in October of 2024.
Joseph Kutzko: Without you, I would have nothing. So it's wholeheartedly, fully, sincerely, I love you with no end.
This doesn't read much like a daughter who is being abused by her parents, to the point where the State of Massachusetts would step in and remove her from her home. And yet, that's precisely what happened next.
Lauren Green: Less than three months later, Child Services removed Sophie from their home and accused them of abuse. The Kutzkos say their daughter's school, Algonquian Regional High School, in Southboro Massachusetts, exposed Sophie to a culture steeped in gender ideology, and blame a school counselor for socially transitioning their daughter to becoming a boy without their knowledge or permission. They claim the counselor contacted Child Services. The school had no comment regarding the allegation.
Vernadette Broyles, attorney for the Kutzkos: You start with school policies that refuse to inform parents when a child rejects their sex and claims another identity. That's part of a system that starts everything down the rabbit hole. Now in this case, the school then reported these parents for... to DCF. So there was a direct school to DCF pipeline in this case as we have seen elsewhere.
Lauren Green: So DCF has assumed guardianship of their daughter. A permanent restraining order remains in place against Arlene and Joseph and Sophie's older brother. The father and mother are distraught.
Arlene Kutzko: Mama missed (sic) you. Please come home. Mama miss you, please. I'm begging you, please.
Lauren Green: We reached out to DCF for comment, but they have not yet responded. Last Friday, a judge temporarily blocked the state from giving Sophie a high dose of testosterone, and the next court date is October 29th.
Here's the thing: In cases like these, parental rights should, indeed must be paramount. There's nothing radical or extreme about the Catholic Church; it's not as though this girl was brought up in some bizarre abusive cult. Her parents are Catholics, a church that claims about 1.4 billion members, making up almost 18 percent of the world's population. Parental rights and the principles behind them dictate that parents, not schools, should be responsible for decisions of this kind. The Kutzkos are Catholic, but it wouldn't matter if they were Baptists, Buddhists or Jewish; parental rights trump activism by a school district. And, there can be no doubt, this whole thing started with gender theory activists in the school district.
The Kutzkos are suing to get their daughter back. Lauren Green presented some other relevant details on the web page of her Lighthouse Faith podcast.
It is a family’s worst nightmare. Devout Catholic parents are fighting in court to regain custody of their 17-year-old daughter, Sophie, and stop Massachusetts authorities from medically transitioning her with high-dose testosterone. In December 2024, the Department of Children and Families (DCF) removed the then 15-year-old from her home because her parents, Joseph and Arlene Kutzko, would not recognize their daughter as a boy due to their faith–an identity change they allege staff at Algonquin Regional High School initiated in secret. Although physical abuse claims against Joseph were deemed unfounded, a permanent restraining order was issued against the family, and DCF cut off contact after the Kutzkos would not call Sophie by a male name or pronouns.
This is nothing short of an abuse of government power and an abrogation of parental rights, not to mention the First Amendment's guarantees of freedom of conscience.
The Kutzkos have won one short-term victory, in that a judge has temporarily halted the state from pumping Sophie full of testosterone, which would have long-lasting, permanent and damaging effects. But their fight goes on.
Editor's Note: Unelected federal judges are obstructing President Trump's agenda and ignoring the will of the people.
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