Trans woman and her partner accused of kidnapping her 10-year-old child for possible gender reassignment surgery in Cuba

A transgender woman and her partner were arrested Monday, April 20, for allegedly kidnapping her 10-year-old son and flying him to Cuba, where the child’s biological mother feared he would undergo gender reassignment surgery. 

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Rose Inessa-Ethington, 42, fathered a child with a woman before transitioning from male to female and getting into a relationship with a new partner. 

Trouble emerged after Rose and her partner, 32-year-old Blue Inessa-Ethington, purportedly took Rose’s child under the guise of going on a camping trip in Canada, the US Attorney’s Office said in a press release on Tuesday, April 21. 
 

Rose and Blue 

The blended family crossed the northern border but never checked into their hotel.  

Aside from one brief phone call on March 28, they cut off all communication with the boy’s mother, according to officials. 

A day after that call, the group, who was also traveling with Blue’s 3-year-old child, flew out of Vancouver and landed in Mexico City. 

From there, they took another flight to Havana, Cuba and stayed until they were deported back to the US on Monday, April 20, authorities said.  

Rose’s son was supposed to be returned to his mother on April 3. 

The child self-identified as a girl in interviews with officials, which family members worried was “due to manipulation by Rose,” according to the feds. 

A Utah court granted Rose’s ex-wife exclusive custody of the 10-year-old on April 13. She had split custody with Rose before the alleged kidnapping. 

Rose was raising the 10-year-old as a “gender open child,” according to a 2021 GoFundMe that collected funds for her then-ongoing custody battle. 

Blue, who organized the failed fundraiser, described Rose as a “cornerstone of the LGBTQ+ community” in Utah.  

Rose and Blue were arraigned in Richmond, Virginia when they landed back in the US.  

Officials said they will be extradited to Utah “at a later date for the remainder of their court case.” 

They were both charged in a federal criminal complaint of international parental kidnapping.