Transgender kids get help navigating a difficult path

[Neoma]

Amber, a soft-spoken, feminine 12-year-old who loves Hello Kitty and fashion design, lives with a secret. It is a secret most sixth-graders can't fathom, one she hides behind pink skirts and makeup. It is a secret that led to all her baby pictures being tucked away as though her childhood had never happened.

Amber was born a boy.

When she was 10, she stopped going by her given name, Aaron, and began dressing as a girl. Last year, she started taking medication to keep her from going through puberty.

"I can be who I am," Amber said. "I can be a girl."

An increasing number of children like Amber are realizing they are transgender and seeking care at clinics around the nation. Because of their age, the complex and emotional journey is as much their parents' as their own. Families are forced to make tough decisions about therapy and medication, and about what to tell friends and relatives. They are trying to give their children a normal upbringing with summer camps and sleepovers while protecting them from harm and embarrassment.

The article has 3 pages, I recommend reading all of it. (Stupid copyright laws. )

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-transgender-kids-20120615,0,216229.story

[tabatha]

1. Jo Olson, mentioned in the article - very intelligent person.

http://current.com/news-and-politics/91142546_single-payer-the-only-fiscal-and-moral-solution.htm

[He loved Big Brother]

2. I read the article.

I wish we lived in a society where having a penis and liking Hello Kitty at the same time didn't require a visit to the clinic to take the drastic step of preventing puberty in a child's life. That is a rite of passage that all genders should go through, I believe. As a clinician, I believe puberty is a very important period for one's sexual exploration, regardless of gender or sexual orientation.

[Starry Messenger]

3. Going through puberty in the wrong gender would be traumatic.

Fortunately modern science takes a progressive view and doesn't "prevent" puberty, but delays it in order for a child with possible gender dysphoria to have some time to make decisions.

Gender identity disorder

http://www.webmd.com/sex/gender-identity-disorder

[Zorra]

4. Amber is very lucky to have aware, supportive parents who can afford therapy

and treatment. This type of treatment for trans children is long overdue.

Many trans children are not so lucky; sometimes their parents try to beat and berate them into what they view as gender conformity. The children go into survival mode, and hide their real gender as best they can, often adopting alternative personalities of the opposite gender. Serious repression.

This almost always manifests in a whole lot of hurt and misery, in various multiple forms, later in life, for trans persons, and often for the people close to them as well.

This humane common sense approach toward Amber is very encouraging, hopefully, it will become commonplace and will help to reduce the astounding suicide rate among trans persons.