Documentary Highlights Child Protection System Failures

It might be surprising, but in America, the very systems designed to protect children—from child support to foster care—have caused significant harm to them and their families.

A new documentary titled Separation: When the State Takes Your Child explores this issue, focusing on a family that faced severe consequences for refusing to engage with certain trends regarding gender identity. The first episode features a couple from Prince George County, Maryland, who lost custody of their son after they declined to label him as a transgender girl during his time at a children’s hospital.

In July 2021, while shopping for his youngest child’s birthday, John received a panicked call from his wife about local police and state child welfare workers arriving to take their 16-year-old autistic son. Allegedly, their refusal to affirm his new sexual orientation was seen as child abuse by the local child welfare office. This office had adopted a radical program that penalized parents for not allowing their children to transition or identify as transgender.

Just months after that alarming incident, John and Jane lost custody of their son.

As an African-American couple and devout Christians, they found their lives upended by state officials and a legal system that seemed to unjustly punish those who resist radical ideologies that contradict their religious beliefs and parental rights. Unfortunately, they are not alone; many families across the country face similar challenges from a system that misconstrues normalcy as abusive.

For a deeper look into the unfortunate circumstances surrounding John and Jane, along with the broader implications of a system that appears to prioritize extreme ideologies over family integrity, check out the full documentary.