While she was undergoing hormone therapy to transition to life as a boy, one California mother lost her child to suicide. Andrew Martinez, who was born a girl named Yaeli and became known as Andy, killed himself by stepping in front of a speeding train on September 4th while they were in the middle of gender-transitioning treatment at home instead of addressing the youngster’s mental health problem of depression.
The grieving mother of Yaeli, an 8-year-old girl from Palmdale who was coerced into transitioning to a boy by her school district in Los Angeles County claims the system failed her child by pushing her son instead of first addressing mental health issues, including addiction. Abigail Martinez discussed the incident with Daily Mail. Because the youngster had severe depression – it was bad enough for him to step in front of a speeding train to end it all – Abigail believes that the school system should have prioritized this above gender reassignment surgery and hormone replacement therapy.
In a stunning disclosure, the 53-year-old mother of four stated that school officials advised Yaeli not to talk to her mother about transgender topics. Instead, the institution encouraged the youngster to seek out support from an LGBTQ group for encouraging her to live as a boy.
According to the mother of a murdered older transgender student, older transgender students “coached” Yaeli on what she needed to say in order for her to be removed from her mother’s care and placed into a foster home so that the state would pay for her gender confirmation surgery.
The LA County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) has stated that they “aggressively pursued the implementation of inclusive, gender-affirming laws, policies and support services for LGBTQ+ youth,” but that there are “higher rates of suicide” among gay young people when compared to other groups.
“Once she moved to high school, by the beginning of the sophomore year, things changed drastically,” the devastated mom stated. “She talked to her sister about how she liked girls. She was questioning her sexuality. It was a shock, but she was trying to find out her identity. It’s normal. What children don’t go through that at that age?”
Abigail continued, “The school was telling her to go to these LGBT groups behind my back. She went from questioning her sexuality to her gender. She had these peers at school two years older than her. They were the ones who brought these ideas – ‘Maybe you’re depressed because don’t you feel like you’re a boy?’ – and the school was supportive of that. The school told her these groups were the place to go, and I didn’t need to know about it.”
“I asked her what was going on, and she tried to deny it because she was told that if she talked about it at home, I would not support it.”
In July 2016, an older trans person advised Andrew to flee from home and report DCFS authorities that Abigail had been abusive. The court sided with Andrew and placed him in a foster home, allowing him to undergo transgender therapy.
Abigail stated, “I knew that the hormones wouldn’t work. She was taken away from my house because they wanted to save her life. My question to all of them is, where is my daughter now? Why did they play with her life? I’m broken. My family life is not going to be the same ever again.”
