Parenting, although different for everyone, is always a challenge.
Some kids love playing outside, while others prefer indoor activities. Some enjoy parties and school events while others prefer sleepover with their best friend. Some are completely comfortable with the gender they were assigned at birth, while others feel as if they were born in the wrong skin.
How to Help Your Child Transition?
If you’re a parent of a gender non-conforming individual, you may be struggling to understand what kind of support your kid needs.
Don’t worry. It’s new to you and if you’re trying to support your gender non-confirming kid, you’re a great parent.
To ensure that your transgender kid receives the best support and care from your side, here are some tips:
Conversation is Always the First Step
When your kid tells you that they aren’t comfortable in their own skin or with the gender identity they were assigned at birth, don’t go back in the past in order to look for ‘signs’. Instead, ask them what it means to them.
Remember, not all gender non-confirming individuals decide to transition. So, understanding what your kid wants is critically important.
Let Your Kid Lead the Way
Once your kids ‘comes out’ to you, don’t push them to transition. Be supportive, but let your kid lead their own transitioning journey.
They came out to you, but they may not be ready yet to come out to the world. Give them space and don’t try labelling them. Because not all gender non-conforming people are transgenders.
Hormones Are a Much Later Part of the Transition Process
Lastly, if your kid wants to transition and is ready for it, you need to know that hormones don’t come till much later in the transitioning process.
If your kid is prepubescent, they are not yet ready for the hormones. And once they began taking hormones, they would go through puberty in a manner that’s different from that of their cisgender peers.
To be precise, your kid needs you to be supportive of the decisions that they make for themselves. Understand your child but let them lead.