A very interesting episode of All Things Considered wherein two families share their stories about their transgender children.
Both families are dealing with their biological male sons wanting to transition into females. Each family has consulted a psychologist and has received very different advice.
One family is told to let their son continue to play with girl toys, etc, and to support him in his transition. The other family is told to discourage such behavior.
Which stance would you take if you had a transgender child?
I think if my child leaned toward wanting to be of the opposite sex, I would go with what the first psychologist said and gently discourage the behaviors. We are talking about 3, 4, 5 year old kids who have no real idea of the world and as parents it's our job to help guide them. I say guide and not force because there is still a certain amount of free agency we should allow them. I think one of the big problems with parents with transgendered children is categorizing toys as girl toys or boy toys. I would get a range of toys, staying away from the extremes on both sides. This might include puzzles, blocks, crafts, stuffed animals, a play kitchen, etc. That way the child doesn't feel like he/she has to pick a gender to go with what toys he likes to play with. By doing this, you could gradually introduce more gender appropriate toys as the child got older.
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