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[quote=Anonymous]OP here. In light of the two posts above by people with transgender children, I want to briefly weigh in. I would encourage anyone whose child announces when they are a tween or teen that they are transgender but has no prior history of identifying as the opposite sex to consider counseling. But also to take into account that bad counseling may be worse than no counseling.

Start by asking how is the child's relationship with his/her parents. If it is not good, i would urge you to draw your child close and re-establish that bond. Be warm and loving but also curious and neutral about their identity issues. Let them know you are here for them no matter what. Also, for tweens and younger teenagers, take a hard look at their internet usage. You may be shocked at what they are looking at. Seriously consider dialing it back. That may be tough. We could not do it so we had to eliminate internet access except for in tightly controlled circumstances. To our surprise, we have a MUCH happier kid.

Second, to the extent that you can, I would assess where the child's mental health is. Has there been trauma in the child's life recently? Does the child have ADHD, depression, autism spectrum issues, etc.?  Has there been bullying or ostracism by peers? If you have any of these issues, I would strongly encourage that the child work through these issues with a therapist and determine how they are impacting or causing the gender identity issues before any transition takes place, at least any medical or surgical transition.

Lastly, I would encourage anyone who is curious about this issue and who is not a militant one way or the other to listen to the recent interviews with Dr. Laura Edwards-Leeper on the Unspeakable podcast. She practices affirmative therapy but is critical of practitioners who rush kids to medical transition and overstate the risks of suicide for kids who do not immediately go on pharmaceuticals. If you are interested in someone who takes a more skeptical approach, you can Google Sasha Ayad.[/quote]

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