A Southboro, Massachusetts couple say they have not spoken to their teenage daughter in more than a year after the state’s Department of Children and Families (DCF) removed her from their home and placed her under state guardianship, following the family’s refusal to affirm the girl as a boy on religious grounds.
Joseph and Arlene Kutzko say their daughter, Sophie, was socially transitioned by a counselor at Algonquin Regional High School in Southboro without their knowledge or consent. The family, who are Catholic, allege the counselor then reported them to DCF after they would not use a male name or pronouns for their daughter. The school has not commented on the allegation.
DCF removed Sophie from the home in December 2024, when she was 15. The Kutzkos say physical abuse claims against Joseph were investigated and found unfounded, but a permanent restraining order was nonetheless issued against Joseph, Arlene and Sophie’s older brother, barring them from contact with her. DCF has since assumed guardianship of the girl, now 17.
Attorney Vernadette Broyles, who represents the Kutzkos, said the case reflects a broader pattern in which schools decline to notify parents when a student rejects their sex and adopts a new identity. “You start with school policies that refuse to inform parents when a child rejects their sex and claims another identity. That’s part of a system that starts everything down the rabbit hole. Now in this case, the school then reported these parents … to DCF. So there was a direct school to DCF pipeline in this case as we have seen elsewhere,” Broyles said.
DCF has not responded to a request for comment on the case.
Last Friday, a judge temporarily blocked the state from administering high-dose testosterone to Sophie. The next court date is set for October 29.
Arlene Kutzko, in comments captured for the report, pleaded for contact with her daughter: “Mama missed you. Please come home. Mama miss you, please. I’m begging you, please.”
Joseph Kutzko read from a birthday card Sophie had given him in October 2024, months before she was removed from the home: “Without you, I would have nothing. So it’s wholeheartedly, fully, sincerely, I love you with no end.”
The Kutzkos are suing to regain custody of their daughter. The case has drawn attention from parental-rights advocates who argue it illustrates the risks of school policies that keep parents in the dark about a child’s gender identity while opening a direct line to child welfare authorities.
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