Lauren Etchells says the focus has been on ‘gay rights rather than what is best for my child’.

A mother who is currently on the run with her children has condemned the “political correctness” she says is “breaking up her family”.

Lauren Etchells disappeared in May from her home in Canada with her two-year-old daughter and baby son.

Canadian authorities have since accused her of abduction, leading to international search for the family.

However, Ms Etchells – originally from England – claims that she is doing what is best for her children, as she contacted The Times in a bid to justify her actions.

The teacher sent an 18,000-word email from a secret location in the UK, describing her turbulent marriage to Tasha Brown and explaining her reasons for fleeing the country.

“This whole case has been about gay rights and not about what is good for my child,” she wrote.

“At some point the system needs to look at the straight facts and see that Kaydance is better off with me instead of getting blinded and caught up in political correctness and bureaucracy.

“Breaking up her family, separating her from her mother and brother and the man she knows as her father is going to do far more psychological damage to her than growing up not knowing Ms Brown.”

She went to say that she originally wanted Kaydance to have a life with Marco van der Merwe – the man who acted as a sperm donor for her second child – but that the pair are no longer together.

“I wanted Kaydance to grow up with her biological family, the family who loves her and has always put her best interests first,” she wrote.

She accused the authorities of continuing to “hunt me like an animal” and refusing to investigate her allegations that Ms Brown is a regular drug user.

Ms Brown – who denies the allegations – said yesterday: “I am Kaydance’s mom too, who loves and misses her dearly. I am worried about her safety and concerned for her health.”

Both women’s names were added to the birth certificate of Kaydance when she was born in 2014, giving Ms Brown equal parenting rights under Canadian law.

“A life on the run is the worst possible way to raise our daughter.”