A Christian couple’s nearly three-and-a-half-year battle to regain custody of their two daughters from the Swedish government was dealt a major setback recently after a top European court rejected their request for the court to intervene.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled the case brought by parents Daniel and Bianca Samson “inadmissible” on March 10, a final decision that cannot be appealed.
According to Alliance Defending Freedom International, which is leading the family’s legal fight, the children have been separated from their parents since December 2022.
ADF International said the case began after the couple’s eldest daughter, Sara, then 11, made a false abuse report at school following a disagreement with her parents over not being allowed to have a smartphone or wear makeup. ADF said the girl quickly retracted the allegation and that prosecutors found no evidence of abuse.
When the abuse allegations were retracted, child protection services instead accused the parents of being “religious extremists,” citing their refusal to let the girls wear make-up and the family’s regular attendance at church three times a week.
Since June 2023, Sara and Tiana, then 10, have been moved through at least three separate foster placements and have been kept apart from each other. Between January and June 2024, the parents attended a mandatory parenting training, all while taking care of their other five children. Upon completion, the social services’ course instructors (two therapists) certified Daniel and Bianca’s capacity and fitness for parenting.
Meanwhile, Sara has consistently expressed a profound longing to return home as her health has declined significantly while in state custody. She now battles severe physical and mental health issues, ADF claims. Both girls have attempted suicide during their separation from their family, according to their parents.
Having exhausted every avenue of legal appeal in Sweden—including the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the case in March 2025—the Samsons were also denied their request to move the girls into the custody of the child foster care system in their home country, Romania.
Daniel Samson has advocated before Romanian parliamentarians and solicited support from Romanian media for his family’s right to reunification.
“We brought this case to the European Court of Human Rights because all domestic remedies have failed to restore our parental rights,” he said. “We love our children. We trusted Sweden to protect them—and when the truth emerged, we expected our daughters to come home. Yet they remain away from us, and their mental health continues to deteriorate.”
Morales Sancho, legal counsel with ADF International, described the Samson family’s ordeal as a clear case of religious discrimination.
“Despite a full investigation that cleared Mr. and Mrs. Samson of any abuse, Swedish authorities have prolonged this family’s suffering and have still not allowed the children to go home, including keeping the daughters separate from each other,” Sancho said.
“It is tragic—and unacceptable—that a child who recanted her allegations and yearns to be home remains separated from her family, resulting in extended and severe mental distress,” Sancho continued. “The element of religious discrimination is also unmistakable in this case. The state labeled the family as religious extremists solely because of their active practice of their Christian faith.
“Parents have the primary responsibility and right to raise their children. When the state interferes with family life based on values-based parenting choices or discrimination on the basis of faith, fundamental freedoms are at stake.
“We deeply regret the Court’s decision to reject this case, considering that this family has been torn apart for over three years despite a full investigation that cleared Mr. and Mrs. Samson of any abuse. Families should be free to live according to their convictions without fear of losing their children to the state.”
Sancho is asking Christians around the world to pray for the reunification of the Samson family while social services is continuing to try to restrict the parents’ contact with their daughters.
“Unfortunately, we received a communication from the social services in the community of Hasselholm,” said Sancho. “What they want is the total restriction of contact with the parents, with the idea of putting the girls into adoptions in the future.”
