A Christian mom and her husband are fighting back in court after Oregon’s Department of Human Services determined that they caused “mental injury” to her daughter by refusing to “affirm” her transgender identity. “It has destroyed our lives,” Nicole Calaway, the mother of two daughters who are now estranged because they both claim a transgender identity, told the Daily Signal in an interview Sunday.
Child Protective Services took custody of her then-15-year-old daughter, K.A., on July 18, 2024, one day after Calaway and K.A. terminated the services of K.A.’s therapist, Jennifer Forster. According to court documents, Forster filed the complaint that resulted in K.A.’s removal.
ODHS notified the Calaways that the agency considered them “responsible for the mental injury” of K.A. “Your adverse reactions to [K.A.] expressing their gender identity have caused serious harm to [K.A.’s] psychological functioning,” ODHS caseworker Rachel Woods wrote in a Sept. 13 letter. Calaway’s older daughter had already moved out.
“I was so distraught, it felt like I was gutted,” the mother said. “Both my daughters were gone. I took myself to the hospital and admitted myself for a week because I couldn’t handle it.” The mother remains estranged from her daughters, and Oregon has ordered her not to contact K.A. Yet the state’s findings haven’t just affected her maternal relationship.
The “mental injury” finding constitutes a child abuse ruling on Calaway’s permanent record and on the record of her husband, David. The stigma of a state agency finding the two guilty of child abuse has followed them across state lines after their move to Florida in July 2025.
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