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Abigail Martinez is a Christian mother from Southern California who lost her teenage daughter, Yaeli Galdamez, to suicide in September 2019 at the age of 19. Yaeli struggled with depression as a teenager and later began identifying as transgender. Martinez has said she first sought support from her daughter’s school to address Yaeli’s mental health, but she felt that school officials encouraged a gender transition and steered Yaeli toward an LGBTQ club without her knowledge.
Because Martinez did not affirm her daughter’s gender transition, she lost custody to the California Department of Child and Family Services. During this time, she was only allowed limited supervised visits, and she was reportedly warned not to speak about her faith during those visits.
Martinez has shared that despite hormone treatments, Yaeli remained unhappy and continued to struggle. After regaining some contact later in life, Yaeli expressed to her mother that she couldn’t become a boy and was experiencing physical pain from treatments. A short time afterward, Yaeli died by suicide by lying on train tracks.
Martinez has since become an advocate for parental rights in such situations and has sought to bring attention to the case in legal contexts, including efforts related to the U.S. Supreme Court.