Massachusetts Governor Defends State Taking Catholic Couple’s Daughter Away After They Refused to Call Her a Boy

Democrat Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey is defending the Department of Children and Families after Catholic parents accused the state of seizing their teenage daughter because they would not refer to her as a boy.

Healey told reporters the removal had nothing to do with gender, but the family’s lawyer says that is not true.

Joseph and Arlene Kutzko of Southborough say they have not spoken to their daughter, Sophie, since late 2024.

The child was 15 when DCF took her, and she is now 17.

The couple claims that Algonquin Regional High School began using a male name and pronouns for their daughter without telling them.

They have said that a school counselor reported the family after they refused, on Catholic and scientific grounds, to treat the girl as a boy.

“They exposed our daughter to teachings on LGBTQ and topics that conflict with our Catholic beliefs about human dignity, creation as male and female in Catholic teaching,” Joseph Kutzko said on the Lighthouse Faith podcast.

Massachusetts law allows schools to use a student’s chosen name and pronouns without notifying parents, a practice that has survived federal court challenges in other cases.

The parents say DCF has housed Sophie in a boys’ dormitory, put her on birth control and psychiatric drugs, and kept her from Sunday Mass.

A permanent restraining order bars the parents and an older brother from contact.

Attorney Vernadette Broyles of the Child and Parental Rights Campaign says the state is now seeking court permission to give the girl high-dose testosterone. A judge temporarily blocked that treatment. The next hearing is October 29.

Healey was asked about the case after an event in Boston this week.

“Let me be clear about the facts in that matter,” she said, according to a Boston Herald report. “First of all, DCF did not remove the child because of a health issue or a gender-affirming care issue. DCF removed the child after there were criminal charges filed against the parents, including the father. As you know, DCF is responsible for the care and well-being of kids, and that’s what happened in this instance.”

Healey added that the matter is “currently a subject of criminal prosecution right now against the parents,” then declined further comment while insisting the child “was not removed because of a gender-affirming care issue.”

WATCH:

#NEW: Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey @maura_healey says the parents who claim the state’s DCF took custody of their teenaged daughter after refusing to affirm her as a boy, as reported by @FoxNews, are “incorrect” and are being untruthful. Healey told reporters today that… https://t.co/DRGePbzngx pic.twitter.com/sLvel3Ehn9

— Tim Dunn (@ConsiderMeDunn) September 15, 2026

When pressed about whether DCF is helping the teen medically transition, Healey said she could not comment.

A DCF spokesperson told WBUR that refusing to support a gender transition would not, by itself, be grounds to remove a child.

Broyles told the Herald that Healey is misrepresenting the facts of the case.

“It’s very dishonest, because there are no standing charges against them,” she said. “There is no finding that these parents have committed any abuse against this child in the criminal court, nor is there any supported allegations of abuse or neglect against them, even in the juvenile court.”

Broyles said an unknown adult hired a lawyer for the girl and helped her obtain a restraining order in Marlborough District Court after the child was already out of the home.

“They’re a very well-known, very Catholic, devout family,” Broyles said. “Dad is a scientist and has science-based objections to the idea of ever telling a child that you can change sex because that’s impossible, as well as faith-based objections.”

The family’s short-term goal, Joseph Kutzko said on Fox, is to keep her off of sex change hormones.

“The most important thing is to bring her back to our family. But a shorter-term goal is to prevent them from giving her testosterone.”

Broyles said the state is trying to “poison this young lady with testosterone” that can cause infertility, cardiovascular harm, and irreversible changes.

“We are actively fighting in court to keep them from really poisoning this young lady with testosterone that would have the capacity to cause her to become potentially infertile, would harm her cardiovascular system, and would have a number of irreversible effects and harms to her body,” Boyer said, according to a report from Life News.

Under Massachusetts law, DCF can seek court authorization for treatment a parent will not approve.

Healey has spent years branding Massachusetts a sanctuary for “gender-affirming care.”

In 2025, Healey signed what she called the strongest shield law in the country for providers of sex change surgeries and treatments, as well as abortion.