A father of five who decided to live as a woman in 2015 has lost a legal attempt to see her children.
The parent, whose name has been kept secret, was a member of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Manchester, northern England, before her change in status.
Now Manchester’s Family Court has ruled that she is not allowed direct access to her children, who are aged between 12 and 2, because of the high risk of them being ostracized by their community.
Peter Jackson, the judge who presided over the case, said: “Weighing up the profound consequences for the children’s welfare of ordering or not ordering direct contact with their father, I have reached the unwelcome conclusion that the likelihood of the children and their mother being marginalised or excluded by the ultra-orthodox community is so real, and the consequences so great, that this one factor, despite its many disadvantages, must prevail over the many advantages of contact. I therefore conclude with real regret, knowing the pain that it must cause, that the father’s application for direct contact must be refused.”
He added: “I reject the bald proposition that seeing the father would be too much for the children. Children are goodhearted and adaptable and, given sensitive support, I am sure that these children could adapt considerably to the changes in their father. The truth is that for the children to see their father would be too much for the adults.”
The ruling means the unnamed parent is only allowed to contact her children via letter four times a year on festivals and on their birthdays.
