A devastated father in Iceland says he has been stripped of his parental rights after speaking out against the gender reassignment of his 11-year-old autistic son – a case that has attracted international attention, including from billionaire Elon Musk – as he accuses the courts of prioritizing progressive ideology over the right of parents to protect their child.
“It should be a crime,” Rocha said of the medical interventions. “You harass children and castrate a boy, as in the case of my child. This should not happen. This is an ideology that has no place for children.”
He argued that his then 10-year-old – whose worldview is shaped by video games like Minecraft and Roblox – could not understand the permanent consequences of gender reassignment.
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Alexandre Rocha is pictured in this undated photo holding his son. (Photo courtesy of Alexandre Rocha)
‘Of course, every child [after a separation and autism diagnosis] will have a mental challenge,” Rocha said. “The transition is a happy place. They feel validated, they like the attention… For me it’s about the long term. Will they still be happy four years from now, or six years from now, if they have blockers and more hormones? Does it really solve what’s underlying it: the mental challenge or difficulty, whatever they’re going through?”
Despite his child being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder just eight months ago, Rocha said the court and medical professionals had “somewhat ignored” the diagnosis during the trial.
He noted that children on the autism spectrum often struggle with feeling “good about themselves” or “wanting to be something else,” adding that his child sometimes prefers to be a cat — with a tail or cat ears.
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Alexandre Rocha is pictured with his son in this undated photo. (Photo courtesy of Alexandre Rocha)
However, when he raised these concerns in court, Rocha said an Icelandic endocrinologist “completely dismissed” him under oath, guaranteeing that the hormone drugs posed “no problem” and refusing to investigate underlying mental health factors.
Now removed from the medical decision-making process, Rocha says he fears the treatment his son will receive without his knowledge.
“It could very well be that he is being treated with hormones and I don’t know anything about it,” he said.
Rocha added that the child’s mother espouses a “stronger ideology than ever,” saying he had to use the advanced artificial intelligence (AI) program ChatGPT to understand terms like “deadname,” which refers to a person’s birth name before a gender transition.
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Alexandre Rocha is pictured with his son in this undated photo. (Photo courtesy of Alexandre Rocha)
“I cannot support these kinds of statements. For me, this is devilish. It is beyond love,” he said. “When you talk about a child, you can’t talk about death. It just doesn’t make sense to me.”
Rocha said he was notified in February that the child’s mother had formally changed his son’s name to a female name, “meaning his ID now clearly states he is a girl.”
The father said he believes the court’s ruling was not about his child’s well-being, but rather a coordinated effort to silence dissent.
“It’s to control parents. It’s to control me,” he said. “It is to silence me. It is to give all the power to this ideology.”
Rocha’s story has received international attention and recently caught the attention of Musk.
Rocha’s story recently caught the attention of Elon Musk. (Getty Images)
The Tesla CEO has spoken out openly about transgender issues after revealing that his son, Xavier, had transitioned to a woman and now goes by the name Vivian Jenna Wilson.
Musk said he was “basically tricked” into allowing Wilson to take puberty blockers before he had “any understanding of what was going on.”
In response to a post about Rocha’s story on the popular X account @libsoftiktok, Musk said: “The woke mind virus is even affecting Iceland.”
Rocha said he was “very surprised and honored” that Musk shared his story.
“I think we are fighting a common fight,” he said. “Because at the end of the day we are all parents, regardless of our borders or nationalities.”
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Politics aside, Rocha says he misses daily moments with his son, whom he said he hasn’t seen since January.
“I miss story time in the evenings and cooking together,” he said, noting how much he enjoyed sharing 1990s Steven Spielberg films such as “Jurassic Park” with his son.
Rocha recently requested daily fines against the child’s mother for interfering with his court-ordered visitation rights.
The mother denied deliberately blocking the visits and claimed the child refuses to attend because Rocha rejects his transgender identity and does not use his new name, court documents show.
Rocha provided a witness statement in which he claimed that their last visit went smoothly and that the child appeared happy and safe in his presence.
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Alexandre Rocha is pictured in this undated photo with his grandmother and son. (Photo courtesy of Alexandre Rocha)
He recalled a recent visit where his son said he “missed being with grandma and my sister.”
“When you don’t know what’s happening on the other side, you really worry as a parent,” Rocha says. “We’re slowly drifting apart, and that’s a very sad outcome of this.”
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Despite pressure to stay quiet, Rocha urged other parents to trust their “instincts,” speak up and seek professional guidance.
“I am here for my child and for his future,” he said. ‘That’s all I care about. I’m campaigning for him, for his future.’
