Father sought return of two children (ages 10 and 14) under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.
The children were habitually resident in Michigan with the father and were retained in Ontario by the mother during a summer access visit.
The mother and counsel for the children opposed return, citing the children's objections and grave risk of harm.
The court found that the older child's objection was substantial and based on serious psychological and educational factors related to being a transgender youth in Michigan, meeting the Article 13 exception to mandatory return.
The younger child's objection was found to be a mere preference and did not meet the threshold.
The court ordered the younger child returned to Michigan and dismissed the application with respect to the older child.
