Transgender 7 year old.

[Ali]

We are here to share thoughts, not to determine the fate of anyone. And you don't know if some of that "opinionated people on the internet" can be facing the same situation, do you?

By the way, if you think that way, that doesn't mean that your against this kind of forums?

What I mean is that we know very little about these individuals, so we shouldn't rush to judgement.

I wouldn't endorse the parents' decisions without knowing more. But I certainly won't condemn them. The people who are condemning them, in such damning terms, do nothing but contribute to the culture of bigotry and prejudice these people will have to face.

So you're saying anyone who didn't have gender identity disorder as kid is not qualified to comment on the issue?

No, I'm saying that the vast majority of are currently living with the gender we felt comfortable with as a child. Which means that when we were kids, we were correct about our gender. That experience should encourage us to take the kids' feelings seriously.

I agree with you that the parents ought to be very cautious, and that it would be preferable to wait until the child is older. But puberty means that they can't wait forever. It's hard to imagine something more miserable than going through puberty in the wrong body.

Also... I hope you haven't spoiled the end of Cart Life for me!

[blueskirt]

I did not! D:

Or if I did, it was by accident. I didn't get that far into the game. By that I meant the general feeling of dread I get from the black and white and gray graphics and from having to manage every little cents of your budget, feeding your little dude crap food and not knowing if you'll make it to the next week. It brings me back flashback of being unemployed. Criminal records tend to close a whole lotta door.

[Galen]

We are here to share thoughts, not to determine the fate of anyone.

And yet all I've heard in condemnation towards the parents for endorsing their child's choice and encouraging her to be who she wants to be. But no, if a child knows the particularities of their sex prior to age 13 it is obviously their parents fault. If a child is so distraught by their body that they try to mutliate their own genitalia it is obviously just a phase they'll grow out of, like when you were four and wanted to be Spiderman. Except for the part where you try and cut off a part of your own body from the anguish you feel...

They're not forcing the kid into surgery. They're not forcing the kid to act in any way at all, they're just letting the kid act how she wants to in a respectful manner rather than letting it be something that the kid would feel ashamed of.

But no, clearly they are the bad guys. Not the people who think that the poor kid should be forced to live as a boy until she's "old enough".

[Noctambulo]

We are here to share thoughts, not to determine the fate of anyone.

And yet all I've heard in condemnation towards the parents for endorsing their child's choice and encouraging her to be who she wants to be. But no, if a child knows the particularities of their sex prior to age 13 it is obviously their parents fault. If a child is so distraught by their body that they try to mutliate their own genitalia it is obviously just a phase they'll grow out of, like when you were four and wanted to be Spiderman. Except for the part where you try and cut off a part of your own body from the anguish you feel...

If that's all you've heard from me, then clearly you haven't been paying attention at all

Still, the opinions on this forum don't determine the fate of anyone...

By the way, Did he (she?) tried to mutilate his (her?) own genitalia??

They're not forcing the kid into surgery. They're not forcing the kid to act in any way at all, they're just letting the kid act how she wants to in a respectful manner rather than letting it be something that the kid would feel ashamed of.

But no, clearly they are the bad guys. Not the people who think that the poor kid should be forced to live as a boy until she's "old enough".

They are giving him (her?) something "a little bit" stronger than aspirins. Maybe it's not a surgery, but...

3-5 years appears (at least to me) to be way too young to take that kind of decision. Maybe I'm not a specialist, but, are you one?

[Galen]

They are giving him (her?) something "a little bit" stronger than aspirins. Maybe it's not a surgery, but...

3-5 years appears (at least to me) to be way too young to take that kind of decision. Maybe I'm not a specialist, but, are you one?

Which is why she will, closer to the time, be given hormones to delay puberty until she is old enough and adjusted enough to decide if she wants to go through with it or begin to transition. That is point of the decision.

Surely you didn't think they were giving gender-specific hormones that, to my knowledge, don't even exist in the body in any significant quantity until puberty has begun to a four year old?


And yeah, she tried to cut off her penis while crying from the story I read. That's a bit more intense than wanting to be a robot in passing.

[Igor Hardy]

And yeah, she tried to cut off her penis while crying from the story I read. That's a bit more intense than wanting to be a robot in passing.

That makes me think it might be a good idea to keep children in the dark about the other sex's genitalia until a certain age.

[Noctambulo]

They are giving him (her?) something "a little bit" stronger than aspirins. Maybe it's not a surgery, but...

3-5 years appears (at least to me) to be way too young to take that kind of decision. Maybe I'm not a specialist, but, are you one?

Which is why she will, closer to the time, be given hormones to delay puberty until she is old enough and adjusted enough to decide if she wants to go through with it or begin to transition. That is point of the decision.

Surely you didn't think they were giving gender-specific hormones that, to my knowledge, don't even exist in the body in any significant quantity until puberty has begun to a four year old?


And yeah, she tried to cut off her penis while crying from the story I read. That's a bit more intense than wanting to be a robot in passing.

Seriously...Are you kidding me?? Did you at least  read what I wrote?

And yeah, she tried to cut off her penis while crying from the story I read. That's a bit more intense than wanting to be a robot in passing.

That makes me think it might be a good idea to keep children in the dark about the other sex's genitalia until a certain age.

Now that you mention it...  

[Ali]

And yeah, she tried to cut off her penis while crying from the story I read. That's a bit more intense than wanting to be a robot in passing.

That makes me think it might be a good idea to keep children in the dark about the other sex's genitalia until a certain age.

I don't want to have to start buying "Happy Finally-Learning-About-Genitals Day" cards for people.

[xenogia]

One of my dearest friends is Transgender, and decided this at an early age.  Around the age of ten and it was his own choice.  Amazing person isn't a "suicide" waiting to happen.  Seriously people be more open minded.

[Stupot]

Just came across this on my daily round of Yahoo! news:
http://uk.lifestyle.yahoo.com/zach-avery-understanding-children-and-gender-confusion.html

Firstly [as mermaidsuk.org.uk explains], it is important to remember that even children who experience gender identity disorder are not inevitably going to wish to change their sex when they reach adulthood.

Sometimes the issues are transient, and pass. The NHS says: “In most cases, this type of behaviour is just a normal part of growing up, but in some cases of gender dysphoria, it persists into later childhood and through to adulthood.”

UK charity the Gender Identity Research and Education Society (GIRES) notes that, of the relatively small number of cases of young children the organisation has seen, 80 per cent “did not progress to become transsexual people” â€" i.e. undergoing surgery to alter their sex.

I picked these quotes, mainly because they are from reputable sources and not just Yahoo!'s opinion, and also because they support the kind of argument myself and others have been making, that families should wait and see how things pan out before labeling a child as 'transgender' or anything similar. 

[Ali]

I think the NHS may have been misquoted. Probably an accidental adding of the word 'some':

In most cases, this type of behaviour is just a normal part of growing up, but in cases of gender dysphoria, it persists into later childhood and through to adulthood.
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Gender-dysphoria/Pages/Introduction.aspx

That makes a big difference to the meaning.

I think we'd all accept that most children with gender issues don't become transsexuals. But I can't understand why some people are so confident that they know better than the child's parents and doctors.

[Stupot]

All I'm saying is it seems more sensible to wait.  Is that really so unreasonable?  Judging by those quotes it seems that the majority of people do wait, and the majority of the time it turns out to be just a phase.

Only when a reasonable 'point [of no return (for want of a better phrase)]' has passed must the children, parents and doctors be sufficiently confident that this is one phase the child will not be growing out of.  In my humble and ignorant opinion, the onset of puberty seems like the most reasonable and logical place to put this 'point'.

[Ali]

I wasn't using "some people" in the way people use it to mean "YOU!", I meant the people making more condemnatory comments.

I agree that caution and care are needed, but the kid is not undergoing surgery. In spite of what some people have said, she doesn't seem to being treated with any drugs. She's just acting the way she feels like acting.

If she was being given medication, it would surely have been mentioned in the sneering and revoltingly petty Daily Mail Online article I just shortened my life by reading. The hack responsible echoes some of the more damning comments in this thread, and obviously doubts whether being transgender is a real thing at all.

[Snarky]

It's also worth noting that even if most of the kids seen by GIRES don't undergo surgery, that doesn't mean it's just a phase that they grow out of and that they don't become transgender (or indeed transsexual people who undergo hormone therapy without surgery).