Parenting

A recent story from World Net Daily talks about a third grader in Pennsylvania who is going through a gender change. The child was born a boy but will soon be re-introduced to his class as a girl, with a girl's name and wearing girl's attire. Erin over in Love+Health has an in-depth post with all the details and medical issues relating to this story and transgender children.

But it's an NPR interview on this topic that just breaks the heart. It's a story about another couple with a transgender child. Their son always wanted to be a girl, as early as five years old, and he later was diagnosed as being transgender. The child is officially referred to as a daughter now with a female name and dresses as a young girl. But puberty is approaching and the parents need to decide if they should use a controversial hormone treatment to delay its onset.

In the audio interview you can clearly hear how difficult this situation is for the parents of the child. It really is heartbreaking because they're trying to do what's best but at the same time, there are so many unknowns. Like what happens if your son believes he is female, has hormone treatment and then decides later on that he was wrong...and wants to return to his life as a male? Or vice versa.

Can you even put yourself in the shoes of these parents? Would you help your young child change his or her identity?

Related links on Shine

The controversy: How to deal with a transgender child
Clothes for toddler girls -- impractical and a sign of early sexism?