Desperate dad legally changes gender to female in bid to gain custody of kids

A father has legally changed his gender identification in a bid to win custody of his two young daughters following an acrimonious split from his wife.

René Salinas Ramos, 47, is now listed as female on official documents in his native Ecuador – despite the fact that he still identifies as a cisgender male in his everyday life.

The distraught father claimed he made the drastic decision because of his country’s justice system, which he said usually favors mothers in custody cases.

“Being a father in this country, Ecuador, is punished and I am only seen as a provider,” Ramos told local newspaper La Voz del Tomebamba. “What I have been asking is to give the love and protection that a mother can give to her children.”

Ramos claimed that his daughters are currently living in an abusive environment with their mother – and claimed that he has not seen his children in over five months.

“The laws say that the one who has the right is the woman. At this moment I am female. Now I’m also a mother, that’s how I consider myself,” Ramos told the media gathered outside the Civil Registry office of the city of Cuenca on December 30. “I am very confident about my sexuality. What I asked is that I want to be a mother, to give you the love and protection of a mother.”

René Salinas Ramos, 47, is now a woman with legal documents – despite the fact that he still identifies as male in his everyday life. Jam Press The distraught father says he made the drastic decision because of his country’s justice system, which usually favors mothers in custody cases. I’m Press

However, his actions have angered activists across the country who fought hard to change the law for true trans citizens. The Ecuadorian Federation of LGBTI Organizations issued a statement denouncing Ramos’ “strange” actions earlier this week.

“This man’s private matter, to get custody of his daughters, is not the spirit of the law,” noted trans activist Diane Rodríguez, Ecuador’s first trans member of the Assembly and national director of the Ecuadorian Federation of LGBTI organizations.

Rodríguez also told the medium that at first he thought this was “fake news” – but now “we fear that in the Assembly things will go backwards and they will start legislating against us”.

Meanwhile, the custody battle between the father and his ex-wife continues.

“Until this issue is resolved, [the children] they should stay with their mother,” Ramos said, as reported by Jam Press. “The law is taking away our right to be parents. [Changing my official documents] it’s a testament to love.”

Ramos is the first reported case in Ecuador of a man taking advantage of gender reassignment laws in an attempt to give himself a leg up in a detention case.

Ciudadano ecuatoriano cambió su género a femenino para luchar por la custodia de sus hijas. “Mi actuar no es contra nadie en special, sino contra el sistema”, said Rene Salinas, quien renunció a su genero male in the Civil Registry of Cuenca.
🎥: https://t.co/VjHyzCLGbp 👀 pic.twitter.com/Jg2ZLENYS8

— La Voz del Tomebamba (@tomebamba) December 30, 2022 The father officially submitted his gender reassignment documents to the registrar’s office in the city of Cuenca and was then seen showing off his newly changed passport with a smile. I’m Press

In the US, laws regarding trans citizens who change their gender identity vary by state.

According to Bankrate, transgender individuals can legally change the gender on their driver’s licenses in all 50 states — but the process can be challenging. Some states require a birth certificate amendment and proof of gender-affirming surgery.

Last September, Montana became the last state to allow transgender people to change the gender on their birth certificates after a contentious legal battle.

In the US, laws regarding trans citizens who change their gender identity vary by state. AFP via Getty Images

Meanwhile, in California, a father claims he lost custody of his son after he questioned his transgender identity.

In a separate case, a Texas jury ruled against a father seeking custody of his 7-year-old twin sons in his attempt to stop one of the sons from changing his gender in 2019. That father expressed concern about on Thursday that his ex-wife – pediatrician Dr. Anne Georgulas – will allow their son, now 9, to be “chemically castrated.”