In a sit-down interview with The Daily Signal, a mother in Los Angeles, California, shared her experience of having a child who suffered from gender dysphoria, which she believes ultimately led to tragic suicide.

Abby Martinez raised her children between her native El Salvador and California. When her child, whom she named Yaeli at birth, was around 11 years old, the family returned to the United States permanently.

Soon after, the child, whose biological sex was female, began to struggle with depression.

According to Martinez, her child entered high school and became friends with a student whose biological sex was female but had begun identifying as a boy. This student suggested to Martinez’s child that the depression might be rooted in misplaced gender identity and that she was “actually a boy.”

Martinez’s child started to attend meetings for the high school’s LGBTQ club and was allegedly supported by the school’s counselor to begin transitioning.

“I don’t know if the schools, they supposed to let us know what’s going on or not, but they never send me any note about telling me, ‘We need to talk about your daughter,'” Martinez told The Daily Signal.

The mother only learned about what was happening at school from one of her other children who attended the same school and witnessed things firsthand.

Martinez then tried an intervention with her child to open up the lines of communication. Taking her child out to a private meal, she implored her child to open up about personal struggles and life.

The child was unwilling to share with Martinez apparently because of a lack of trust.

Reflecting back on that conversation, Martinez recalls responding, “Well, we don’t know. So, if you tell us what’s going on, I’ll be more than happy to help you.”

She told the child, “I’d do anything to help you, Yaeli. The only thing that I need, and I wanted it for you, is to see the happy girl that used to be before.”

“I’m not a girl. I’m a boy,” her child allegedly retorted.

In short order, Martinez lost possession and custody of the child to local government authorities. The child expressed concerns to a school psychologist, who then recommended that the child would be “better off living away from home.”

Soon after, the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) gained custody over the now-16-year-old, limiting Martinez to one hour of visitation a week for months.

DCFS argued to Martinez that keeping the teenager out of the family home would provide “more chance to survive.”

In a separate interview with the Daily Mail, Martinez said, “On the visit days, when she came to my house, I was told not to talk about God. They told me if you do that, you’ll never see your daughter.”

Martinez alleged department officials told her, “She’s not going to try to commit suicide.”

In the years that followed, the teenager began going by the name Andrew and using transgender hormones — all facilitated by the Los Angeles DCFS.

Yet, the sadness and depression issues did not improve.

“She was taking the hormones; she was not happy. She changed her name; she was not happy. She adopted a dog because that was going to make her happy. None of it, everything that they’ve done, didn’t work,” Martinez shared.

Tragically, six months before turning 20, Martinez’s child stepped in front of a train, committing suicide.

The death gained the attention of local elected officials at the time.

A proposed motion by Los Angeles County supervisors Hilda Solis and Sheila Kuehl following the suicide read, “Andrew M.’s death must be met with urgency to provide youth, including transition-age youth in foster care identified as LGBTQ+, with support and resources to live proud, productive, happy lives.”

“I don’t want any parent to go through this,” Martinez said. “Because this pain never goes away … You breathe, and you can feel the pain.”

Martinez claims she pressed DCFS officials after the suicide, saying, “Where is my daughter? You took her away from me, my family. Now she’s gone. You told me that she was going to be better off.”

“There is a lot of kids who are committing suicide,” the bereaved mother said. “The system offers them that they will pay for anything, hormones, any surgery that they need. I wish the system, instead of spending millions of dollars on these kids, having them in foster care, [would] support us as a parent and give us the tools that we need.”