For some people, they know who they are/meant to be from early childhood. Most of us don't. We go through life wondering and trying to figure out what we want to do with it all. We make major life decisions, rashly, that we think are awesome at the time that we make them, then we regret them. People know that tattoos and body mods are supposed to be permanent, yet these days we have people that can't even commit to keeping a little ink under their skins let alone being with the same person forever. It wouldn't be sane or rational to let a child make such a life altering decision.

I agree. Anyone, young or old, need to be evaluated by unbiased professionals before anything is done, and as you said it can take years, and with this I have no disagreement. The problem is that so many unbiased professionals are usually biased assholes. I am definitely not saying that they should hand out GRS left and right to anyone who seeks it, but that they also should not look at people who need one as if they are all crazy and blow them off.

I know it sounds awful to get something done so young and it is not for everyone but they is why the professionals should be so diligent about it as well as everyone involved. If a child is truly transgendered and they know it and want to surgery, though, I am of the opinion that after evaluation and it is proven, that it should be done.

I should also note that there are some who know they are transgendered and do not want the surgery (Isn't our beloved Anna Varney one of them?) I only bring it up because some people do not want the surgery, others do. If they KNOW their true sex and NEED to be their true sex I would hate to deny that person the life they should have because they are younger than I'd like.

Now I do think age should be a factor. I would never approve of a say a 7 year old getting GRS, but at the same time, if a person is 16 and KNOWS their true gender then they simply know. They are not going to grow out of it. That is why we have professionals, to understand if the person really is Transgendered or simply going through an idenity crisis.

I hate to say this, but unless you were were born with GID you really don't understand what it is like. It isn't like getting a tattoo, it is something internal to your very being, and that you know something is very wrong. Also 16 is not too young to make a decision regarding ones gender, heck you are 2 years from graduating high school, and are likely already planning on what college you are going on. In many cultures 16 is seen as being adulthood. So that argument falls flat.

Also YES puberty can and DOES do irreparable damage to ones physical body. Even if you happen to be really successful in life, many things cannot be changed even with expensive procedures. Your bone structure is pretty much set, that cannot be altered much at all. Voice will likely get lower, and even with training you will likely never have a believable female voice if it got too low. Not to mention you are NOT allowed to experience life like any normal child, you are living in constant pain and turmoil.

THANK GOD, the scientific community is recognizing this and kids are getting treated at ages as young as 10! They are being put on hormone blockers so their bodies don't get screwed up with puberty. Being transsexual is NOT something that is to be taken lightly, and needs to be treated as early as possible by a knowledgeable therapist. There is one such woman here in the valley that has treated children at a young age, and can determine which child is truly transsexual and who may just be going through other things to add to their confusion.

I am a bit offended that anyone would suggest being transsexual and doing something about it is comparable to getting a tattoo. One is who we truly are inside, and one is a body modification that someone thinks is cool. A transsexual doesn't want to change gender because it is "cool" they want to change it because it is who they are. It is wrong to suggest that a child doesn't know what their gender is, and how dare someone suggest my brothers and sisters who knew from a young age didn't know for certain. I KNOW for a fact that was not the case. Because of backwards thinking like that, we were never allowed to have a normal childhood and be raised as the gender we knew we were that, and went through more emotional pain, and trauma then any of you can imagine. Some of us didn't even make it through the teen years because they decided it was no longer worth living in such pain.

So in conclusion, treatment needs to be started as soon as a child is diagnosed by a knowledgeable psychologist or therapists. At the very least a child should be put on hormone treatment after this. With surgery as an option down the line. Maybe give them a 3 or 4 year real life experience living as their gender (it is 1 year for adult transsexuals before they are oked for surgery), and then allow them to have the surgery. Not a fan of such a length of time, but people need to be appeased who feel that a child isn't capable enough of knowing what gender they are, just hope they aren't beaten or killed if someone finds out about their genitals wrong.

The irony of this is that we are ok with therapists, doctors, etc diagnose other ailments whether they are mental or physical, and it is ok to treat them. But something that is part of the core of who we are "Oh hell no, you are too young! Who the effe cares that you may potentially be permanently damaged mentally and physically". Gender Identity Disorder is a REAL, recognized disorder (don't like the term disorder but it is how it is viewed officially), and should be treated like any other physical or mental ailment as soon as it is diagnosed! Gender reassignment surgery, hormones, etc are not done for cosmetic purposes, they are done as treatment and should be treated as such, not as a tattoo, a boob job because you feel you are too small, ear piercing or whatever. They are treatments to a very real and very damaging medical problem!

The best solution would be to have a different standard of care for those under 16 (I'm sorry but at 16 you are old enough to drive, and in some places are considered an adult. You damn well should be able to make a decision about your medical condition) and have stricter more intensive counseling and go from there. Maybe you could do something like letting the child transition with hormone blockers for 1 year before making a determination if they should be given hormones. And build the treatment from there. Maybe even have a age scale, ages 10-11, 6-12 months counseling before hormones can be started, but hormone blockers are to be prescribed, to hold off puberty until a comprehensive diagnosis can be made. After that start them on hormone levels similar to the level their true gender would be having. Surgery is something that, as I've said, is something that needs to be an option down the line, but I'd say after 16 you should definitely be allowed surgery if you have been living as your true gender. If you start transition after 16, it should be the normal standards of care. 3 months therapy for hormones, and 1 year full time before surgery.

When one is diagnosed with GID, it is after months of therapy. It isn't something that someone decides "hey I want to have GRS and take hormones", just like any other medical condition that is treated. You need to be diagnosed, so I think a fair compromise is to just make it stricter for the diagnosis to happen when a child is under 16. Otherwise, it will be the standard treatment where you spend 3 months in therapy before you can get oked for hormones, and 1 year living full time as that gender before you are oked for surgery. By that time you'll be almost 18 anyway.

One of the most beautiful stories I heard was a father of a 16 year old MTF, wanting to know how he can get his DAUGHTER GRS so when she goes to college she won't have any trouble in the girls dorm.

I don't think people quite comprehend the mental trauma most of us have went through who were not treated at a very young age. Many of my brothers and sisters have been permanently scarred who didn't get to experience childhood through the correct gender. So many of us are unstable mentally because of it, whether it is from the horrific damage puberty did to us or just having to bury this, looking at a life we should have had.

Regardless, I dare anyone to tell this girl she shouldn't be treated for her condition.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S5usRgY720&feature=share

http://www.transkidspurplerainbow.com/index.htm

I will do everything in my power to make it so others don't suffer the way I and others had to suffer, so they can have as normal of a childhood as humanly possible!

-- Sat May 21, 2011 6:59 pm --

On a similar note, I found this story intriguing!

http://www.parentcentral.ca/parent/babiespregnancy/babies/article/995112--parents-keep-child-s-gender-secret

Getting a tattoo isn't some flippant decision to me and it shouldn't be for anyone else, either. There should be a lot of thought and commitment that goes into it. That is what i meant, not that GRS was a decision that anyone could make lightly.

I think GID is a real condition, and that children can know that something is wrong with the body they have very early in life. Just like other children just know that they have nothing wrong with their bodies. And I don't know whether it happens, but I suppose a good psychologist will be able to discern whether a child knows it or is just in doubt (and in the last case makes sure no irreperable treatments are given).

Since it can be diagnosed at an early age, and it can be treated, I think it should be. Now, I'm not saying "give an eight year old hormones and a surgery". No. I think that they should give the children puberty inhibitors, so they can develop themself (psychologically) and reach the age (16 or 18) where they can decide to continue with the treatment for themselves, and then take hormones and later the surgery. These are not decisions that can be taken lightly, and I think it is unfair to burden solely the parents with such a decision. During the time puberty is delayed, the child should try and live as the opposite sex and be followed by a psychologist. If all goes well, then s/he can decide to take the hormones (together or without the parents) at, say, 16.

This way, no one has to make the difficult decision to have their child surgically made into the other sex. But neither has the son grown into a big, masculine guy, whose start in life as a man will always be seen once he's a woman. And most important, the child gets to actively choose for themselves. And if we let 16 years olds drive cars and choose professions, then I don't see why they cannot choose to live as the other sex.

Its good to realize that GID is a mental health diagnosis aimed at capturing the distress and hardship that folks can go through if they feel identified with sex/gender other than the sex with which they were born.

I've never done work with transgendered/transsexual folks myself, though I am a trainee mental health professional. My opinion is that folks would benefit from undergoing therapy and possibly full psychological evaluation to before getting the surgery. That is my opinion as a trainee professional.

As a citizen, I believe that less regulation from the gubbermint would likely be best so as to keep bias out of the process.

Inhibitors may sound nice, but the trouble with this is that you want the child to develop alongside the gender they truly are as much as possible. That is the point of any treatment offered to children, to help them live as normal of a life as possible. Now i can understand waiting on GRS, but hormones are quite vital for the puberty years.

That is why I think a modified standards of care should be applied, 1 year real life and therapy before hormones are prescribed.

Seriously though one could argue that we should consider delaying puberty for all children until they are "old enough" to make a decision. Because some may be extremely unhappy with the changes they go through. Why should I child be forced to develop a certain way when they are so young? Can't take the chance of a child being scarred by their development! That is how asinine the argument is that we should wait until they are almost past puberty to start hormones. Just because you naturally are predisposed to a certain physical attribute does not mean it is always the right course for that person.

It is A FACT that kids, LIKE I WAS, are already getting damaged from societies ignorance to the seriousness of this, and taking care of it as soon as humanly possible. Because of their life experiences, how they developed, etc they are mentally damaged, many kill themselves because of this. I'm sorry but it needs to be treated as young as possible to avoid this psychological damage. For every one child that may "misdiagnosed" there are thousands who likely won't be. Oh yeah, did I mention that it is much easier for someone who developed female to transition to male then the other way around? We aren't talking about surgery, I am primarily talking about hormone treatment, which can be reversed down the line.



A tattoo isn't who you are either, it isn't a basic inborn identification that all of us are born with. One of the first things a child recognizes is their gender, period.

I think you are possibly underestimating the level of trauma every child experiences in the modern world just by existing.

In an ironic twist though, making such a point about the pain of a percieved imperfect physical form would, for me, prove that you were always mentally a woman beyond all shadow of doubt. Men don't really have the same kind of body issues (until we hit that speedbump in our 20's.....) but pretty much the most horrifying thing in the world to me is the pressure to be somebody else's idea of beautiful that we put on young girls from day one.

Are you saying that beauty is nothing more than a self absorbed delusion used by bitchy females to get others to conform to their beliefs? I knew it!

I am not discounting what a child goes through as they go through puberty, but being transgender and being aware of it from a very young age, multiplies it 10 fold to the point where permanent physical and mental damage is almost surely done. The point of treating any condition that damages a child, isn't to give them a perfect or easy life, but give them the same chance that any average kid has, at least when it comes to their development.

Those who doubt a child can know, obviously were never in my shoes or no one elses that knew from a young age that they were born in the wrong body. Just imagine seeing your body developing, from height, to bone structure, to hair growth, and knowing that some of that cannot be reversed. Knowing at the age of 12 that you had to transition, but were fearful of losing your whole family. Trying to bury it, and each time it hits you harder and harder, to the point you want to end your life before you are even 14.

Seeing girls, being girls even with their hormones raging during the puberty years and thinking "I will never get to experience that", the ups and downs of developing as a woman. And each time seeing that dieing a bit inside, as you are forced to go through the motions of being a boy. Not only that but you see girls developing, while you are mutating into something you know deep inside you are not. Or to see a science book in 3rd grade and weep as you see the nude artist rendition of a fully developed man and fully developed woman because you know you'll end up looking like that man.

Worse yet, being post puberty like many transsexuals out there, and having a deep voice, masculine bone structure, lack of any kind of guidance from a young age on how to be a woman in society, and knowing that people will likely always treat you like a freak, maybe even beat you half to death or to death. All because you couldn't get this treated before puberty ravaged your body to the point of no return.

Hell, as a teenager I had ideas run through your head that you would rather have been born a girl in the worst situation imaginable then your current life as male, even with a "loving" family.

I am happy to say that my pupil does not experience much prejudice. Thankfully the school where I teach is extremely open-minded, and the child in question is receiving plenty of understanding and counselling. I really appreciate everyone who has weighed in in the forum, and I believe my next step will be to have a chat with the professionals who are taking care of her. Hormone blockers, if legal, sound like an avenue that can be investigated further.

This is a topic so close to my heart. I am grateful every single day that I was born with the female body to match my female mind and my heart breaks to think that others have to go through so much trauma to feel comfortable in their own skins.

You all have my love.

That is wonderful, and if she needs to I am willing to talk with her!

BTW one of the most disturbing things I've heard about first hand from some friends is how even after one comes out as transgender, their parents fight them. Turns out when they were born their parents had to decide if they were to have male or female genitalia. Literally, some parents will keep from their kid that they were born intersexed, then pretend they are screwed up in the head when they start to realize that something isn't right with how they feel.

I know this sounds awful for me to say, being a mother, but I often wish that the children who are transgendered or children that have 'problems' could be born to understanding parents instead of just getting the people they sometimes get.

Now I am not saying that I want my children to be transgendered, have a mental illness or suffer immensely because I would accept them wholeheartedly because no child deserves that pain. I just wish that children would had these conditions would be born to understanding parents.

Some happy news, that shows progress!

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2011/05/transgender-mcfatter-senior-crowned-prom-queen.html#storylink=addthis

That is great she was announced prom queen and the gay male prom king. Fucking awesome. I'm also glad her parents are supportive as well as the Principle. I do wish a bit that the father would refer to her as a she, though.