October 24, 2019

For immediate release

For more information contact media@ruthinstitute.org.

Ruth Institute President Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, Ph.D., says the heartbreaking case of seven-year-old James Younger, whose mother wants to force him
to live as a girl, is about more than ‘gender-transitioning.’ It’s also about divorce and third-party reproduction.

The child’s divorced parents are involved in a horrible custody battle. The mother has enrolled her son in school as a girl and insists that he be called
“Luna,” and use the girls’ restroom. Worse, she wants to subject him to puberty-blockers and cross-sex hormones. The father is fighting to keep this
horror from being inflicted on his son.


Yesterday, Dallas Judge Kim Cooks ruled that the father and mother will make medical decisions for Jeffrey jointly – a step in the right direction.

Morse observed: “The case is not just about transgenderism. It is also about divorce. The family court judge has the authority to grant everything the
mother requests. Whether the father cuts the boy’s hair or is sufficiently ‘affirming’ can determine whether he gets to see his own sons – James and
his brother, Jude.”

“The case is also about third party reproduction,” Morse said. “James was conceived with a donated egg. The mother carried him to birth but has no genetic
connection to James or Jude.”

“People who are determined to have a child at all costs sometimes develop serious control issues. The child becomes a project of one parent or the other.
That appears to be the case here, with the mother so controlling that she wants to force her son to live as her ‘daughter.’”

“And, obviously, the case is about the transgender ideology. With virtually no clinical standards, adults are making irrevocable decisions that affect
young children. This little boy is perfectly healthy. The sex of his body is not ‘wrong’ and does not need to be surgically or chemically altered.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a conservative, has ordered the state’s Attorney General to launch an investigation into the case.

Unfortunately, Judge Cooks put a gag order on the father, preventing him from speaking publicly about the case. “Most divorce proceedings take place with
little public scrutiny. But the fact is, people can attend. There is no doubt in my mind that the outcome of this case would have been very different
without the efforts of a few intrepid news organizations, such as LifeSiteNews,” Morse said.

A petition on LifeSiteNews supporting
the father collected more than 58,000 signatures in just a few days.

“I encourage everyone to keep following this important case. Keep the heat on! Transgenderism, third-party reproduction, and divorce all increase the power
of the state over the lives of ordinary people. This is the Sexual Deep State at work,” Morse said.

The Ruth Institute is a global interfaith non-profit organization equipping Christians to defend the family and build a civilization of love.

Dr. Morse is the author of The Sexual State: How Elite Ideologies Are Destroying Lives.

Find more information on The Ruth Institute here.

To schedule an appointment with Dr. Morse, emailmedia@ruthinstitute.org.