Dear Miss Laura,

I believe my son is transgender. It has been extremely difficult trying to deal with this in the right way. I am Catholic and somewhat feel that gays are condemed. on the other hand, I have watched my eight-year-old grow up and what he is experiencing is not a choice. He has said he wants to be a girl ever since he was born and loves to dress-up. Every aspect of his life is affected by this. He feels so awkward around boys and girls because he is not sure who will accept him and who will make fun of him. We are very lucky that our extended family accepts him, but now that he is getting older we are terrified of what puberty will bring. We have taken him to several councelors to help him with self-esteem (not to try to change him), but not even the professionals know how to deal with this. Me and my husband are desperate for some kind of guidance! We don't know anyone who has gone through this and we are afraid that we are doing the wrong things. We want him to be true to himself, on the other hand we live in a small town and we are afraid for his safety. He knows that when he grows up he can start dressing like a woman, but while in school it is too dangerous. Is there some one we can go to for advice and mentoring? I thank you for your beautiful, clean web site.

Sincerely,
Worried Mom of a Transsexual Child

Dear Worried Mom of a Transsexual Child,

My heart goes out to you. Your son is lucky to have such accepting parents. I have several teen members on the site whose parents refuse to even discuss the matter. All are very suicidal. All these kids need is the opportunity to be themselves when ever possible.

The key to transsexualism seems to emanate from the very early age at which these children are affected. It can happen to both boys and girls. A male bodied transsexual would be a male to female (MTF) and a female bodies transsexual would be female to male (FTM).

There fortunately is a lot that can be done. Obtaining a Gender Therapist that deals with Gender Dysphoria would be the first step.

Puberty can be delayed with available drugs. Hormone use though varies from state to states as to the age they can be introduced to them. With a therapist behind you it is possible that crossliving can be done even in school depending where you live of course. Sometimes this can result in unwanted publicity though. it takes careful handeling.

I've written an article on Teen Puberty in Transsexuals. Another article entitled The 11 Year Old That Wants A Sex Change is from the Oprah Winfrey show where you can obtain the tape or transcripts.

With support your son is not likley to have the depressions of others like him. Listening is the key. It sounds like you've done what you can and for that I commend you.

We do support parents on our site in either Live Chat and the Forums. So please feel free to join us. The best of luck to you. Feel free to write me any time.

Laura Amato
Laura's Playground

Laura