I’m torn. 

I want to weigh in on the contentious custody case of the 7-year-old boy in Texas whose mother claims he is transgendered and whose father says he is not.

But I don’t have all the facts. 

If you’re following this story on the internet, neither do you. For reasons that are not clear, the mainstream media has largely ignored the court proceedings. Until they couldn’t any longer. Conservative outlets have covered the case and report that the mother plans to use puberty-blocking drugs on the child in a few years after the boy’s social transition to female is complete.

There’s a word for that: child abuse. Parents have no business medically meddling with the gender of their minor children except in extreme cases.

Here’s what seems to be indisputable: The parents, whose marriage was annulled in 2016, have been in court for two years, warring over the gender and custody of one of their 7-year-old twins. Earlier this week, a jury sided with the mother - a pediatrician -  giving her sole custody.

A judge on Thursday threw out the jury verdict, granting the parents joint custody and giving both a voice in the child’s medical care.

As it should be.

Oh, and the judge issued a gag order on the parents. Too late, unfortunately.

The name of this kid has been all over the media, as have video interviews with the child. That’s tragic. This is a horrifyingly private matter being played out in the courts.

Imagine what the future holds for the well-known victim in this case.

The victim is the 7-year-old, of course.

Putting aside the gender question, this looks a lot like one more sad case of a child being used as a pawn in a power struggle between self-absorbed parents. They seem oblivious to the damage being done to their poor kid by the international publicity and the domestic tug-of-war.

Until recently the child was a girl at mom’s house, a boy at dad’s. Imagine the years of therapy that will be required to fix that.

Rabid custody battles are among the unpleasant things that transpire in American courtrooms. Adults, consumed with loathing for each other, often use their children to get revenge on their ex-spouses. Instead of fostering a healthy relationship with the other parent, they enlist the children as allies in their domestic warfare.

.

Children are a gift. They aren’t little soldiers to be brainwashed and sent into battle with a former spouse. 

Frankly, in protracted custody cases such as this one, I wish judges could remove the kid from both parents and place him - or her - in a loving home where adults are kind and respectful to each other.

That won’t happen, of course. And one thing is certain: These parents will be back in court.