Court Opinion

ID: 9614524
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 04:26:09.332724+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:03:36.630128
License: Public Domain

Gunderson, J.,
with whom Springer, J., concurs,
dissenting:
The natural mother of Mary Toews Daly (Mary), Nan Toews Daly (Nan), filed a petition to terminate the parental rights of the natural father of Mary, who is now legally known as Suzanne Lindley Daly.1 After a hearing, the district court terminated the father’s parental rights over Mary. He then filed the instant appeal. We should reverse, because the district court lacked clear and convincing evidence which demonstrated the need to terminate parental rights over Mary. At the outset, it should be emphasized that the father does not seek visitation rights at the present time. Hence, with all respect to my brethren in the majority, it seems inappropriate to bottom a ruling against him on the supposition that visitation with him could injure Mary.
I
The parties were married in 1969. Their daughter, Mary, was born in August, 1973. By 1979, they had separated. After the *73separation, the mother worked and resided with Mary in Reno. The father lived in Oakland, California, where he worked at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, a part of the University of California. A final divorce decree was entered on February 17, 1981, in our Second Judicial District Court. Under the decree, the mother received custody of Mary. The father received visitation privileges; he also was required to provide child support and health insurance for Mary.
In 1983, the mother petitioned the court to terminate her former husband’s parental rights. The key issue underlying her petition appears to be his transsexuality. Prior to the 1981 medical diagnosis that the father was a transsexual, he had led a seemingly normal life. After high school, he received an appointment to the United States Naval Academy; however, he was unable to attend Annapolis because of poor eyesight. Instead, he enlisted in the United States Army and served honorably. Upon discharge, he attended the University of California at Berkeley. While at Berkeley, he worked at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and double majored in Anthropology and in Slavic Language and Literature. After graduation, he continued to work for the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. His job, as a scientific research specialist, requires him to design and build complex research equipment and experimental devices. The parties also started to raise a family.
After their separation, the father had doubts about his gender identity. He consulted with Lynn Frazier, Ph.D., a psychotherapist specializing in the treatment of transsexuals. Dr. Frazier evaluated him for a potential gender identity problem and, using medical guidelines for the diagnosis of transsexuals, Dr. Frazier diagnosed him as a transsexual. Following Dr. Frazier’s advice, the father than entered into the preoperative treatment regimen prescribed for transsexuals.
At the termination hearing, Ira Pauly, M.D., a psychiatrist and recognized expert in the field of transsexualism testified about the standards employed to screen candidates for sex reassignment surgery. Those standards require the candidate to undergo at least six months of psychological evaluation, to undergo a full year of hormonal therapy which allows the candidate to develop the secondary sexual characteristics of the opposite gender, and to undergo the “real life test” which requires the candidate to dress and act as a member of the opposite gender. According to Dr. Pauly, the length and depth of these tests permit the medical professionals evaluating the candidate to determine if he is psychologically prepared to live the remainder of his life as a member of the other gender. The testing also permits the candidate to decide whether he wants to go through the sex reassignment surgery. When the father completed the evaluation phase, *74Dr. Frazier decided that he was a proper candidate for the surgical phase of the treatment. The surgery was then performed.
In 1981, after having been evaluated as a legitimate candidate2 for sex reassignment surgery, the father revealed to his daughter that he had been diagnosed as a transsexual, and that his doctors had advised him to undergo sex reassignment therapy. Seeking to prepare her, he discussed with Mary what transsexuality is and what was going to happen to him. Mary, a bright child, apparently developed a reasonable understanding of what he explained to her. Before Mary returned to her mother, the father asked her to keep information secret from her mother; for he believed, correctly as matters turned out, that the mother would seek to use the information against him.
In February of 1982, Mary informed her mother that her father was a transsexual. Upon hearing this disclosure, the mother claimed to be worried about Mary’s condition. After Mary had returned from her visit to Tim during the summer of 1981, the mother, in hindsight, thought that Mary had been quieter than normal. However, prior to the disclosure, it appears the mother had no special concerns over Mary’s behavior. In addition, a neighbor and school teacher, both of whom knew Mary, did not notice any particular problems with Mary during this period either.
To resolve her concerns, the mother consulted a lawyer and had Mary visit a psychologist. As a result of these discussions, the mother unilaterally decided to deny the father visitation privileges, in violation of the divorce decree. Soon after the mother had made that decision, the father attempted to visit Mary in Reno. However, the mother, using the pretext of a nonexistent court order, had two sheriff’s deputies intercept and deter the father before he was able to visit with Mary. Then, in August of 1982, the mother refused to pick up the father’s birthday present for Mary at the post office. She also requested him to not telephone their residence.
Once again, in January of 1983, the father was barred from contacting Mary based upon the mother’s assertion of another nonexistent court order. Later that day, he attempted to visit Mary at home; however, he was deterred by Mary’s gun-wielding grandmother, who would not permit him to enter the premises.
After this incident, the mother sought and received a restraining order prohibiting the father from contacting Mary. She then *75initiated the instant proceedings to terminate his parental rights. At the termination hearing, both parties testified. Expert testimony was also provided on transsexuality, on the father’s medical treatment for transsexuality, and on Mary’s psychological condition.
The district court then terminated the father’s parental rights. In reaching its decision, the district court basically concluded that Mary would be better off if she did not visit him. The court reached this conclusion based upon its evaluation of the father’s emotional stability and upon the potential influence of his friends on Mary. The district court also noted that his “selfishness” did not serve Mary’s interests. In addition, the district court found that he had failed to support' Mary.
II
Termination of parental rights is governed by NRS 128.005 et seq. The grounds for termination of parental rights applicable to the father are listed in NRS 128.105-.107. Beyond the statutes, in reviewing a termination order, we look (1) for the existence of jurisdictional grounds, concerning a parent’s conduct or capacity to raise a child, which fall below minimum standards, and (2) for the existence of dispositional grounds, concerning the child’s interests, which require that the parental rights be terminated. Champagne v. Welfare Division, 100 Nev. 640, 647, 691 P.2d 849 (1984). To affirm a termination order, both types of grounds must exist. Id. at 640, 691 P.2d 849. In addition, the evidence supporting termination must be clear and convincing. Cloninger v. Russell, 98 Nev. 597, 598, 655 P.2d 528 (1982). I turn, therefore, to consider application of the Champagne test to the district court’s order.3
A
The district court identified several jurisdictional grounds. First, the district court noted that the father had abandoned Mary because of a lack of support and communication over a period of six months or longer. See NRS 128.105(1), (5)(a). The mother, however, played an instrumental role in inhibiting contacts with Mary, and manipulated sheriff’s deputies and school officials to obstruct attempted visits. Considering these facts and others, we cannot properly ignore the obstacles the mother placed in the *76father’s way.4 See in re Adoption of Doe, 677 P.2d 1070, 1074 (N.M.Ct.App.), cert. denied, 677 P.2d 624 (N.M. 1984). Despite such barriers, the father continued to maintain medical insurance for Mary. Unlike the case of Pyborn v. Quathamer, where no “real attempt” to communicate or to support the child occurred, 96 Nev. 145, 146, 607 P.2d 1141 (1980), he attempted to visit Mary, attempted to communicate with Mary, and did help support Mary. There is thus no clear and convincing showing of a conscious abandonment of Mary. E.g., In re Appeal in Maricopa County, Juvenile Action No. JS-3594, 653 P.2d 39, 43-44 (Ariz.Ct.App. 1982); In re Appeal in Pima County, Juvenile Action No. S-624, 616 P.2d 948, 950 (Ariz.Ct.App. 1980). Therefore, this jurisdictional ground fails.
The district court also found that Mary faced a risk of serious physical, emotional or mental injury if the father exercises any parental rights. However, without the exercise of visitation rights, which he is voluntarily foregoing, such injury admittedly cannot occur. Thus, this jurisdictional ground fails also.
Finally, the district court found that the father’s selfishness, his unrealistic thinking about Mary, and his lifestyle adversely affect his ability to be a parent. Because he does not ask to exercise visitation rights, however, these considerations do not currently affect Mary’s life. Therefore, the jurisdictional grounds invoked by the district court fail to provide an adequate basis to terminate the father’s parental rights.
B
The district court also found several categories of dispositional grounds. The district court noted that Mary should not be around someone with a gender identity problem, should not be in an environment where she might confront sexual minorities, and does not presently wish to be with her father. Again, without visitation, none of these concerns have substance. Therefore, this first category of dispositional grounds fails to justify a termination of the father’s parental rights.
The second category of dispositional grounds raised by the district court concerned Mary’s anxieties over the dispute between her parents. Yet, no judicial resolution of the instant appeal can stop any hostilities that exist between the parties. With the father foregoing any contact with Mary, little else can be done *77to resolve Mary’s anxieties. Thus, this dispositional ground fails to justify a termination of all parental rights.
Finally, the district court noted that Mary does not now desire to be with appellant and believes he is no longer her father. I recognize the importance of considering a child’s views of her parents where the child can sufficiently articulate her desires. NRS 128.107(2). Still, we also should recognize the importance of not severing a parent’s rights where a less restrictive alternative exists to permit preservation of a family tie. E.g., In re Brooks, 618 P.2d 814, 822 (Kan. 1980). While Mary may no longer have a father figure, she still has a second parent who desires to contribute to her financial support, and who might someday in the future provide her with needed comfort, affection, and help.
Ill
In conclusion, I reiterate that Mary and her father currently are totally separated, for he is willing to forego visitation rights at present, in order to maintain his legal status as Mary’s parent. This separation protects Mary from all of the concerns, imagined or real, which underlay the district court’s termination of parental rights.
A close reading of the majority opinion simply underscores this fundamental point. In attempting to justify the district court’s ruling, the majority recite, inter alia: “The district court primarily focused upon the risk of serious physical, mental or emotional injury to the child if visitation were resumed and the child were forced to maintain contact with appellant.” (Emphasis added.) The majority also state: “At trial Dr. Weiheir, respondent’s expert witness who examined Mary, testified that there is a serious risk of emotional or mental injury to the child if she were allowed to be in her father’s presence.” (Emphasis added.) Again, the majority point out: “Dr. Weiheir, however, had the opportunity to observe and interview Mary and determined the risk to Mary would exist only if visitation were forced upon Mary. (Emphasis added.) The majority go on to assert: “Nevertheless, if visitation were permitted, there would be a risk of serious maladjustment, mental or emotional injury.” (Emphasis added.) Hence, it is to be seen that the majority opinion is premised, not upon fact, but upon suppositions which are contrary to the facts and which ignore the appellant father’s basic legal position.
As previously noted, the appellant father in this matter is a well educated person, long employed by one of this nation’s eminent academic institutions. He served this country honorably in its armed forces, and, the record indicates, has never been known to violate any of our country’s laws. Appellant fathered Mary Daly *78in wedlock, and, since divorce, has maintained an interest in her and has continued attempts to provide for her, even though the respondent has improperly impeded those legitimate efforts.
In psychological distress, the father has consulted legitimate and respected medical authorities. The advice given by those medical authorities may offend the religious precepts of many. In the ultimate judgment of history, such advice may well yet be condemned as quackery. Still, I respectfully submit that a court of law should not stigmatize an emotionally distressed person for following the advice of highly trained and licensed physicians, who are practicing medicine under government authority, and who possess the most exalted credentials their profession can bestow. Nor should any parent be stigmatized for attempting to forewarn a child concerning medical procedures the parent is about to undergo pursuant to such advice.
Recognizing that the medical procedures he has undergone currently occasion distress to her child, the father does not contend he should now be allowed visitation rights. Rather, he contends merely that he has done nothing to warrant severing his formal legal parental tie to Mary Daly, apparently hoping that the passage of time will restore in Mary a desire to know him. In the meantime, the father recognizes, he would have to accept the duty of contributing to Mary’s support, while foregoing visitation with the child.
As I assess the record, the fact that the appellant father has suffered emotional problems which are foreign to the experience of this court’s members, and has followed the possibly poor advice of eminent medical authorities in his attempt to relieve them, does not justify a total and irrevocable severance of appellant’s formal legal tie to a child he obviously cares about and desires to help nurture. By holding that such a severance is justified in these facts, it seems to me, we are being unnecessarily and impermissibly punitive to the exercise of a medical option we personally find offensive, thereby depriving a child of a legal relationship which might well be to the child’s advantage in the future.

The father’s name formerly was Tim Daly. He changed his legal name to Suzanne Lindley Daly in December, 1982. In this opinion, to avoid confusion I shall refer to the parties as the “mother” and the “father.”
The father was a transsexual. A transsexual, or a person with sexual dysphoria, is biologically the member of one gender while considering himself as a member of the other gender. Green, Sexual Identity of 37 Children Raised by Homosexual or Transsexual Parents, 135 Am.J.Psych. 692, 692 (1978). The medical profession does not know the etiology of transsexuality; however, a person’s self-identification as a transsexual appears to occur early in life, probably by the age of four, but might even occur prenatally. See Doe v. McConn, 489 F.Supp. 76, 78 (S.D.Tex. 1980); M.T. v. J.T., 355 A.2d 204, 205 (N.J.Super.Ct.App.Div. 1976). Currently, psychotherapy appears to be an ineffective treatment for transsexuality. See Doe v. Department of Pub. Welfare, 257 N.W.2d 816, 819 (Minn. 1977). According to Ira Pauly, M.D., a psychiatrist and expert in transsexuality, who testified at trial, the medical profession believes that sex reassignment surgery is the best treatment available for a transsexual. For further information on transsexuality, see Comment, M.T. v. J.T.: An Enlightened Perspective on Transsexualism, 6 Cap.L.Rev. 403, 403-10 (1976-1977); Comment, The Law and Transsexualism: A Faltering Response to a Conceptual Dilemma, 7 Conn.L.Rev. 288, 288-94 (1974-1975); Comment, Transsexualism, Sex Reassignment Surgery, and the Law, 56 Cornell L.Rev. 963, 965-72 (1970-1971).

Dr. Pauly stated, for example, that homosexuals are not appropriate candidates for sex reassignment surgery because, unlike a transsexual who does not accept his biological gender, a homosexual accepts his biological gender and thus does not require this surgery.

In applying Champagne to the district court’s findings, I characterize the court’s pre-Champagne decision in terms of Champagne’s jurisdictional and dispositional categories. See e.g., McGuire v. Welfare Division, 101 Nev. 179, 180-81, 697 P.2d 479 (1985).

We further note that the father was attempting to regain visitation rights during this same period; he was hindered by counsel who evidently did not expeditiously aid his cause. Where a parent attempts through an attorney to regain his rights, we obviously should not hold that he has abandoned his child merely because of the seemingly ineffective assistance of counsel.