At 18, Sara moved out of her parents house, and her life turned around: she got her documents changed, started hormone replacement therapy, and found a boyfriend. Unfortunately, the happiness didn’t last: when Sara’s parents found out about her transition, they acted out. 

Sara: ‘I tried to explain to my mother how important this was for me, but she kept saying that it’s not normal and that I’m sick and should get treatment. I knew it was no use to try and talk some sense into her, so I asked her not to call me again and hung up.’ 

Three days later, Sara received a text from her mother that said: ‘I understand you, everything will be alright’, followed by an invitation to meet up. Sara agreed, hoping to talk things out so that her parents could finally accept her decision and identity.

After seeing her mother and father, Sara didn’t come home. Her parents asked her to get in the car under false pretense, but she quickly realized that they were taking her somewhere else. When Sara tried to get out of the car, her parents forced her back in and kept driving. On the way, they said that they were taking her to a clinic for an examination. When Sara protested, they said that she should be grateful that they had picked a nearby clinic instead of taking her somewhere far. 

Inside the clinic, Sara’s personal belongings, including her phone, were immediately taken away. She was taken to a room that had a bed, a nightstand, and a window with heavy shutters that were impossible to open. She stared at the bare walls of the ward and felt the fear sweep the ground from under her feet. A doctor asked Sara to sign an examination consent form that didn’t even contain her personal information. Sara spent her first night at the clinic terrified and haunted by nightmares about her parents. 

The clinic resembled a cell: Sara was put on the ‘high security’ floor, she wasn’t allowed to go outside, have visitors, or talk to anyone except her parents. She felt that the staff saw her as ‘sick’ and didn’t even try to understand her. Doctors bombarded Sara with questions about her trans identity, ran multiple tests, and performed an EEG. During one of her parents’ visits, Sara’s mother and father gave her a stack of papers they printed off the Internet, claiming that trans identity can be imposed by anime. Sara had spent three anxiety-filled days at the clinic before she was finally discharged. 

Sara: ‘I found out what was in those forms they made me sign on the first day and it shocked me: it had my new female name with a male inflection and stated that I was 16 years old, most likely because the clinic was trying to avoid kidnapping allegations. As an underage person, I would have been considered my parents’ responsibility.’

On the day Sara got discharged, her parents met her at the clinic. They were convinced that Sara had schizophrenia and that her trans identity was imposed by Center T* (*initiative that provides support for trans people in Russia) which they were planning on reporting to the authorities. 

Sara: ‘My parents threatened to give me an injection that would make me fall asleep so they could take me somewhere farther away. Since then, I’ve been unable to go outside without feeling threatened, I constantly look over my shoulder and always carry means of self-defense.’

When Sara refused to get in her parents’ car, they left, unwilling to cause a scene in public. Sara called her boyfriend and went to his place. She could not believe that she was finally discharged from the clinic, that she was free. Sara’s boyfriend comforted her and said that he had already contacted Coming Out. She had two attorneys and a lawyer who were going to help. One of the attorneys tried to get inside the clinic but was turned away at the door.

The next day, Sara and her boyfriend recorded the injuries inflicted by her parents during the kidnapping, and, following a consultation with Coming Out, Sara filed a report with the police. Following attorney’s advice, she requested proof of confinement from the clinic in order to take the matter to court. Coming Out’s attorneys will accompany Sara in court, provide her with legal advice, and assist with paperwork. 

Sara: ‘I finally feel protected, and my attorney looks like Hagrid, so I know he won’t let any harm come to me!’

Sara is determined to follow through on both cases: against the clinic and against her parents. To deal with the stress she had experienced, she signed up for Coming Out’s therapy sessions. Now, Sara is working with a psychologist in order to get back to her normal life without the constant flashbacks to her kidnapping and nightmares about the clinic, which for three days became a prison.