A couple from Utah face parental kidnapping charges after being accused of taking a 10-year-old child to Cuba amid a complicated custody fight involving the child’s gender identity. Court document show someone from the child's family raised concerns the child had been taken to Havana for gender-affirming surgery. It’s not clear if the defendants, who include the child’s biological father, actually planned on surgery for the child. The return of children kidnapped by a parent and taken overseas often is settled through negotiations or legal petitions. In the Utah case, federal officials worked with Cuba to deport the defendants and sent a government aircraft to retrieve the child.

The Trump administration has taken the unusual step of sending a government plane to Cuba to return a 10-year-old at the center of a complicated and contentious custody fight involving the child’s gender identity. The child’s parent, Rose Inessa-Ethington, a transgender woman, is accused of taking the child to Cuba without permission. Utah police sought the child's return after concerns arose about possible gender-affirming surgery. Inessa-Ethington and her partner were arrested and charged with international parental kidnapping. The child has been returned to the biological mother. The case highlights ongoing debates over gender-affirming care for minors in the U.S.