WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Independent Women’s Forum released the first of seven videos in a new documentary series called “Identity Crisis.” The videos tell the stories of four mothers whose daughters fell victim to gender ideology, two detransitioners who now warn of the harms of socially and medically transitioning, and one mental health professional who rails against her profession for prioritizing political correctness over public health.
The first eight-minute “mini documentary” tells the story of Jeannette Cooper, whose daughter Sophia announced in 2019, at 12 years old, that she was transgender. Prior to that, Cooper said her daughter had never exhibited signs of gender dysphoria. But not only did her daughter insist that she was trans, but that she was ‘unsafe’ around her mother. What followed was an almost Kafkaesque series of court proceedings and therapy sessions in which Cooper’s ex-husband, lawyers, therapists and other individuals and institutions supposedly concerned with Sophia’s best interests worked to erode Cooper’s most basic parenting rights.
Cooper has since lost custody rights over her daughter and has seen her for a total of eight-and-a-half hours in the last three years. The only way Cooper can communicate with her daughter is by U.S. Mail.
All because she insists that her daughter is a girl.
For the first time, Cooper is sharing her story publicly to warn parents how gender ideology has become the latest weapon in parental custody battles, severing one of the most fundamental bonds in life under the guise of protecting children.
In Cooper’s own words, “The process by which Sophia was removed, and it was solidified that she would not be in my presence, that I would not have contact with her, is harming her. It is a trauma to her,” Cooper said. “In no way should family court separate children from their biological parents without any evidence of abuse or neglect. That is wrong. It shouldn’t happen to me. It shouldn’t be happening to any parent. It definitely should not have happened to my child. She is the greatest victim in this entire situation.”
Kelsey Bolar, senior policy analyst at Independent Women’s Forum and executive producer of the series, said, “There are fewer worse injustices that a parent could face beyond what Cooper has experienced. Her story should cause everyone to pause and ask how a movement branded as ‘tolerant’ and ‘compassionate’ could support the physical separation of a mother from her child.
“Cooper’s story is incredibly painful, and deeply personal. It is only out of a selfless desire to protect others from experiencing the harms of gender ideology that she decided to publicly tell it.”
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