Reply to If your teen suddenly announces s/he is transgender...

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[quote=Anonymous]I don't get how people on both sides of this can be so blind to facts. It's a really complicated issue that needs to be handled delicately, because the consequences when you leap to one side or another can be serious and long-lasting. Trans people exist, and if your kid is actually trans and you don't affirm that identity you are putting them at serious risk of depression, running away from home, suicide, and a host of other abhorrent outcomes. But obviously it's not a great idea to rush to put your kid on hormones the minute they challenge gender norms (I don't think many do this, for the record).

If you have a young kid who is questioning gender norms it's important to let them know that it's totally fine to be a boy and like dolls or be a girl and like trucks, or that boys can like boys, or what have you. If you have a child who persists in saying that they FEEL like they are one gender or the other, you need to see a specialist and probe how they feel and work with a team of professionals to decide on a plan of how to proceed, taking all the time that is necessary before undertaking treatment that can have permanent effects.

At the end of the day, any good parent should just want their child to be happy with who they are in the long term. You have to proceed carefully to make sure you can make that happen.

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