FBI’s rare Cuba mission: Agents fly to Cuba to recover a child from transgender parent who wanted transition surgery for child

A US government aircraft made an unusual trip to Havana this week as part of a rare operation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to recover a 10-year-old child from Utah in an international parental kidnapping case. According to reporting by The New York Times and federal court filings, agents believed the child had been taken abroad by a transgender parent and their partner, allegedly with the intention of pursuing gender transition surgery.

Authorities have charged Rose Inessa-Ethington, 42, and Blue Inessa-Ethington, 32, both from Cache County, Utah, with international parental kidnapping and aiding and abetting. Court filings identify Rose as the child’s biological father who transitioned to female after the child’s birth. Rose shared custody of the child with the biological mother, identified in documents only as “LB.”