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This board is primarily for parents of LGBTQ+ children to share personal experiences and advice. Others are welcome to post but please be respectful that this is a supportive space.

Anyone with a young adult (19) who says they are trans?

66 replies

RIPDotCotton · 16/10/2023 22:43

I’ve posted on here a few times (you can always search my previous posts) but I’m look for specific advice/support from parents of young adults (over 18) who are saying they are trans and wanting medicalization - particular surgery.
DD has been presenting as male for 2 years, says she has felt this way for way longer and is now living away at college. A couple of months ago she told me that she was questioning her gender and felt male and wanted to take the next steps. At the time she wanted me to tell her Dad (she was too nervous as she doesn’t know at all how he’ll respond) but for many reasons I couldn’t. Then she decided she wanted to leave for college without a huge blow up so off she went. I had asked her to at least start therapy to start delving into these issues- of course she’s gone ahead and found a transgender supporting therapist who, it seems from snippets she has told me, is just affirming all her feelings and pushing for moving forward:(
Because she’s an adult now legally I can’t have any involvement in medical stuff.
However, for her to move forward, she would need our support financially at least because we now live in the US and even with insurance there would be a big co-pay.
How do parents of young adults navigate this? So many posts about under 18s say make them wait until they are 18 but a magic wand doesn’t just get waved and turn them into fully functioning adults when they have their 18th birthday!!
I adore my child- I don’t care if she presents as male but I don’t want her having top surgery (a double mastectomy- let’s not make it seem anything less than it is) and taking testosterone (which could ruin her chance to have a child if she later decides that’s something she wants)
I’m trying to say these things to her (dealing with it on my own until I have that conversation with my husband) but she’s seeing it as me stonewalling her and she feels she banging her head on a brick wall trying to get me to understand!
I want to say that I want her to have therapy for at least a year. Then we can review.
The last two years have been supporting her presentation and ‘watchful waiting’.
Now she’s coming at me and I don’t want to lose her or push her away even more (and into the arms of the supportive community who are validating her on the internet or the therapist!)
How do parents of young adults navigate this?

OP posts:
Syrupycake · 04/11/2023 17:23

I really don’t think you should be paying for this. Can you say that you can’t stop her but you won’t pay. If she wants it done she will have to pay for herself like a proper grownup.

slopsan · 04/11/2023 17:27

Personally I would not pay for surgery or treatment I disagree with.

I would reassure my child that I love them, but explain that I cannot support this course of action.

If they are adult enough to want to embark on this, they need to pay for it themselves.

Syrupycake · 04/11/2023 19:19

I suspect a lot if the therapist’s thoughts and advice to your daughter are focused on getting the person with the money to get on board and start paying.
Remember all this stuff is a nice earner for some people. You can’t stop your daughter but you don’t have facilitate it.

parents of drug addicts are advised not to supply the drugs,

RudolphTheRedNosedSpaniel · 05/11/2023 07:19

I can't imagine how you must be feeling. I'm so sorry op.
What a horrible and ridiculous world we live in Flowers

Moomoola · 05/11/2023 07:44

Big hugs, op. this whole thing is horrendous.
I can’t advise as I’m not doing a great job with our child, I need advise too!
fwiw, I think I’d do as suggested above, explain that it’s cosmetic, it will cause different problems later that she cannot imagine now, that she will need to fund it herself.
yes to getting her to watch detrans documentaries.
genspect, the wider lens is a good podcast, there is a fil somewhere if a mum that managed to detrans her child, I’ll have a look for it.

also look up bayswater group, I think there are some simmilar set ups in the US too. To help and advise. There are links on genspect website to GETA which is a directory of non affirming therapists. I advise getting a therapist for you and your partner - it’s is so confusing emotionally and logically.
please be aware that it’s very easy to buy testosterone online and ‘micro dose’

i am sending love because it feels the doors are slammed against us as parents because they are 18. And yet it affects the entire family.
💐

user1492757084 · 05/11/2023 08:09

You don't have to pay for anything for her so don't feel pressured into enabling her changing.
Do insist that she explains to her father face to face.

Find a really good doctor in this area (not necessarily in the US) as a second opinion and go as a family for a few educational consultations.

Encourage your child to complete her studies and enjoy her time at college as it is a unique time of freedom for herself and should not be ruined with stress and anxiety about gender. Tell her to take it slow and to be happy month by month.

Paupersgrave · 05/11/2023 08:17

Your child is for all intents and purposes an adult so their decisions regarding transition are their own. However, as they are an adult old enough to make these life altering changes they also have to be able to fund it themselves (they pay any co-pay).

If someone is adult enough to be consenting to a cosmetic double mastectomy and Lifelong testosterone then it is up to them to work out how they get it.

RIPDotCotton · 05/11/2023 13:25

Thank you for all the replies. I agree that she chose this particular therapist purely to affirm her and help her work out how to get me and her Dad onside. Apparently I’m ‘Google searching and think I know more than a trained therapist who is on the board of some Trans society’ to quote during one of our text exchanges. From a couple of pictures I’ve seen she’s clearly living life at college as a male and I suspect that’s driving the urgency to move forward- which is ironic as where she is is very liberal and welcoming so she can be exactly who she is right now and be part of something and enjoy the whole college experience without making irreversible changes. Until she talks to her Dad (I finally refused after her hounding me for weeks) it’s all moot anyway as she relies on us financially for college (mega expensive over here). Of course she’s already accused me of deliberately not helping her to try and prevent her moving forward- and she’s right except I do truly believe that if she can’t even tell her Dad then how the hell is she adult enough to want all this?! When I’ve mentioned waiting until her brain is fully developed (early 20s) she’s flatly said she isn’t waiting 5 years:(
The frightening part is that she does have money independent from us- she has her child trust fund money which we added to so it’s a significant amount- we helped her put it into investment accounts over here but legally she could cash it all in and we have no control over that- that scares me a lot:(
Thanks for all the support- side from on here I am all alone dealing with this right now and it’s so stressful I can’t even explain. I adore my child and just want her to slow down and enjoy life as is- just take a breath and realize she can present any way she likes but shouldn’t make changes she may live to regret:(

OP posts:
Syrupycake · 05/11/2023 13:31

IfYou pay for affirming treatment, you are setting yourself up as a target should she decide to de transition later on .

not quite the same but my young children were always happy to spend my money in the shops, but when they had to spend their own pocket money they were more careful with their purchasing decisions. Time to tell her what you are prepared to fund, an education, but nothing else.

StrongerThanYouTh1nk · 13/11/2023 00:14

@RIPDotCotton you can find support from Bayswater, Transgender Trend and Genspect. Podcast "Gender: A Wider Lens" is also very good and has paid-for (not expensive) additional content when you subscribe including Q&As from subscribers.

I sympathise, it's so hard and isolating but you are not quite as alone as you might think. With regards to paying for the treatment, if you will find hard living with the lifelong harm that this experimental 'treatment' causes, then I don't see how you can possibly support it. You can stay open to persuasion and keep communication open about types of treatment, research etc. Funding it without considering all the co-occurring conditions and evidence of the benefits is insane. Doing it in a rush is also unwise. You can say you need time to research/understand and you are not ready to proceed yet as it's an emerging field and quite complicated with lots of contradictory advice (and dodgy clinics!)

I would also tell her it's very important she tells her dad.

All the best x

JustCollateralDamage · 14/11/2023 05:35

I am so sorry OP. I don't know if I have the answers for you but you may find my story relatable.

My mother was in almost exactly the same situation as you two years ago when my 19 year old brother decided out of no where that he was a girl. A combination of a feeling like a misfit and having poor socialisation growing up meant he was particularly impressionable to the diagnosis his radical, belligerent progressive girlfriend gave him during covid. Lockdowns gave him two years to obsess over his new identity and he boasted how easy it was to get hormones after only three health care appointments.

I, unfortunately, was fully on the trans bandwagon at the time and celebrated his newfound identity. Worried that he would kill himself, I painted a rosy picture of his future as a trans person. Mum and dad didn't know anything! They were closed-minded conservatives!

No surprise, my brother quickly cut mum out of his life once he realised she didn't truly believe he was a woman, and so I kept my mouth shut to avoid the same fate. Mum has been so devastated, always asking me for news about her son, paying for his phone bills and private health care from a distance, terrified to let go. I try to encourage him to see mum's perspective, but he doesn't need her. Gen Z is bloodthirsty when it comes to kids cutting off parents. It's normal for teenagers and 20-somethings to undervalue their parents relationships in their lives, but this takes it to a whole new level.

Dad, never tolerated the trans thing and immediately laid down the law - "no dresses, female pronouns in my house" and my parents clearly have conflict with each other over these differing approaches. Dad thinks mum and I are enabling.

It seems a lose-lose situation; Hurry them down the path with your consent or lose them forever. You face judgement from people on both sides no matter what you do.

I try to straddle the line between these two options. I take a more watchful waiting approach... caution against permanent action and dangerous activity but I have so far been unsuccessful. He's too far along. He truly believes he passes as a women due to the one-sided confirmation of friends, employees etc. He has not considered fertility or children, despite it probably being too late. He is still in a cloud of "euphoria" with his transition. His peers celebrate him and go OUT of their way to make conversation with him because it gives them a veneer of acceptance. He does not have the social awareness to see these things as self-serving and fake, or that this attention won't last forever. Once the next big social cause comes along, will he emerge from his fog and realise he has all but ruined his chances at a normal life? I suspect so. And its in part my fault because I contributed to this by playing along because that's what twitter, YouTube, Reddit told me I had to do to be a good person...

I don't know what you should do about your daughter. Do you feel you know her well? Do you feel like she aspires to be like you or sees you as a role model? Is there a chance that while you watchfully wait, you could really encourage her to talk to you? Coming from the perspective of just really wanting to understand her mind. It might make her more receptive and understand that you only want the best for her. She won't be able to say 'Mum just doesn't get me, or know how I'm feeling" if you really seek to understand her perspective (not agreeing!).

Your influence is limited as she is an adult (so is my brother), but you are still her mother and undoubtedly an important force in her life or she wouldn't be trying to persuade you. The most important thing is that you make sure that she considers a continued relationship with you to be WORTH it to her - no preaching, no pressuring, no guilt-tripping. And I also think it will help to really bridge the generational gap between you right now. If she's anything like my brother, she has discounted all your opinions as antiquated, bigoted, uneducated and (most ironically) naïve about the true nature of the world. Its important that she sees you as being on her level. Something you could do is go through young photos of yourself as a teen or 20-something year old. Emphasise the ways that you were similar to her at that age. Sounds stupid, but I found that it really made me take my parents perspective more seriously when I saw proof they used to be young and cool like me haha! They'd been there, done that - and their advice had to count for something.

This is such a difficult position OP, I hope you can pull through. Your daughter is being let down by the mental health industry, government, school systems... forces much stronger than you or your husband. But your child is still a child, her brain not even fully formed, with lots of growing to do. Young people hold beliefs fast and loose and she she may be more willing to change her perspective that she'd be willing to admit.

Inamuddle36 · 17/11/2023 21:20

@JustCollateralDamage thaNK you for sharing your story. I am sure it will be helpful for a lot of people who read it.

Moomoola · 01/12/2023 23:09

Thank you justcollateral for a long, beautifully written post.
it helps to understand.
what I don’t understand is, why IS gen Z so bloodthirsty when it comes to cutting off parents?

Inapickleiam · 05/12/2023 11:04

I'm so sorry OP. And JustC, I'm sorry too and thanks for your story, it is kind of helpful.

We are in a similar position. DS is in yr 2 at Uni and has been dating trans people for a while and started dropping hints about himself in summer. He has now 'come out' as trans to me. His speech seemed full of extracts from a script and didn't sound real.
I agree he is having a great time at Uni, I always knew / hoped he would. Is he having a great time because he has a great social life at Uni (Vs home) or because he has come 'out'? It feels so much like a cult or tribe, which I suppose has always been a thing for teens / young people.

I am terrified of life changing medication and being cut off.

Because of the hints I was able to spend time collating my thoughts and have been able to respond nice and calmly, just reassuring him of my support and love and asking him to confirm he isn't taking medication.
I will avoid getting involved in long conversations which either might suggest affirmation or push him away if I don't affirm. Try to make this not what defines him. There is no point me showing him de-trans films or anything (as many suggest), he is a very intelligent young man and will have all his arguments / evidence lined up.

He also has quite a significant CTF which I also am scared he will use to fund treatment.

I am planning to stick to darling, love or similar when he comes home for Christmas. I don't think I can use his chosen name. I feel a bit offended about the rejection of his name but will put that aside.

DH is a bit more blunt about it than I am, he thinks he is just being really stupid and will ruin his life, especially career-wise. He doesn't mind so much about being cut off and would say more. He will be gentle-ish to appease me so just wants to hide from / ignore the issue.

Hope you're all doing ok and thanks again for your stories / support.

Inapickleiam · 05/12/2023 11:06

Moomoola - I think it is the internet that makes them so about cutting off parents. There is so much 'support' out there, family support is considered less needed.

ChatBFP · 05/12/2023 11:46

@RIPDotCotton

Honestly, I am sorry.

It's a hard line to tread, but she is looking to define herself - at the moment, this is as a man. Try to stay as neutral as possible so that she doesn't define herself as "against you", which just makes it easier to ignore the big questions.

If I were you I would reassure her that you will not use her decision against her in terms of funding education and you will always have a place for her and love her.

But if she believes that she is old enough to make the decision before her brain develops, then she needs to be old enough to do that without you cheering her on - you can support her as a person, and always will, without rubber stamping every decision she makes. It is her decision - it is irreversible to a degree, so she needs to understand the pros and cons. I'd keep emphasising that - she is an adult now, she needs to weight it properly for herself - you can't decide whether she will ever want to be able to carry a child or breastfeed. It's fundamentally inappropriate for you to encourage her to do it or not, because that would involve deciding to close off future options for her body and only she should do that - it's not like any other decision she will make in her life about anything else. If she wants you to help her research the facts, then you will take an interest (and this is what you have been trying to do), but you understand that the decision is for her. If she genuinely wants to discuss the pros and cons of it with you, then she needs to be prepared to discuss the facts and answer questions on it, because this is what a discussion involves.

If she is taking this decision, she also needs to be able to explain it to others - she should start with her dad, who might not like it but who will always love her and try to understand it regardless.

She is obviously looking for someone to affirm and encourage. I'd put yourself firmly in the rational, neutral camp. That might bring home the enormity of the decision.

RIPDotCotton · 05/12/2023 22:17

ChatBFP · 05/12/2023 11:46

@RIPDotCotton

Honestly, I am sorry.

It's a hard line to tread, but she is looking to define herself - at the moment, this is as a man. Try to stay as neutral as possible so that she doesn't define herself as "against you", which just makes it easier to ignore the big questions.

If I were you I would reassure her that you will not use her decision against her in terms of funding education and you will always have a place for her and love her.

But if she believes that she is old enough to make the decision before her brain develops, then she needs to be old enough to do that without you cheering her on - you can support her as a person, and always will, without rubber stamping every decision she makes. It is her decision - it is irreversible to a degree, so she needs to understand the pros and cons. I'd keep emphasising that - she is an adult now, she needs to weight it properly for herself - you can't decide whether she will ever want to be able to carry a child or breastfeed. It's fundamentally inappropriate for you to encourage her to do it or not, because that would involve deciding to close off future options for her body and only she should do that - it's not like any other decision she will make in her life about anything else. If she wants you to help her research the facts, then you will take an interest (and this is what you have been trying to do), but you understand that the decision is for her. If she genuinely wants to discuss the pros and cons of it with you, then she needs to be prepared to discuss the facts and answer questions on it, because this is what a discussion involves.

If she is taking this decision, she also needs to be able to explain it to others - she should start with her dad, who might not like it but who will always love her and try to understand it regardless.

She is obviously looking for someone to affirm and encourage. I'd put yourself firmly in the rational, neutral camp. That might bring home the enormity of the decision.

Thank you so much for this reply. I think you’ve summed up the situation perfectly and your suggestions are pretty much how I am trying to deal with it all. I do love her, I want her to be the person she is but leave herself options to move her life in any direction once she is more mature.
I also want her to get an ADHD diagnosis and deal with that separately from all this but at the same time I do feel it plays into her personality and tendency to hyper focus (as she has done since childhood!)
I appreciate everyone who takes the time to reply. Lots of wisdom and empathy on this board.

OP posts:
DoctorMason · 22/12/2023 15:21

Hi,

I'd really recommend taking a look at some of the resources your son can provide you with from the trans-affirming community. By far the largest contingent of people who take issue with trans people and ideology are people who don't have an understanding of what it actually is. I appreciate that I, a stranger on the internet, am not going to be the person you will listen to (though I am more than happy to be if you did actually want me to) so I'm sure this is something that your son can help you with. It's very easy to think of yourself as the parent the one who knows everything that is best for your son, and that they either don't understand or have been sucked in to some kind of trick, but bear in mind that this is likely to be exactly how your son feels about you. I've worked with plenty of parents who feel the same way. But the science is very clear on this, and the facts and figures don't lie. The detransition rate is exceptionally low, and among those who do decide to detransition, the majority do so because of societal pressures. I noted someone in the thread above who claimed that this was a myth used by the trans affirming community to support the trans "agenda'' but this is categorically not the case.

My best advice is to simply work with your son. If he feels more comfortable going by a different name, with different pronouns or present differently, support him in that. Also remember that your feelings are valid too, both positive and negative, but that you shouldn't push them onto your son as a coping method. It's understandable that you may feel some sort of loss, but these are your feelings to work through. If therapy isn't right for you, as you said above, look for some other way to manage your feelings whilst supporting your son.

Good luck to both you and your son with this, and feel free to reach out for any more help and advice (for the both of you!)

RIPDotCotton · 22/12/2023 18:13

DoctorMason · 22/12/2023 15:21

Hi,

I'd really recommend taking a look at some of the resources your son can provide you with from the trans-affirming community. By far the largest contingent of people who take issue with trans people and ideology are people who don't have an understanding of what it actually is. I appreciate that I, a stranger on the internet, am not going to be the person you will listen to (though I am more than happy to be if you did actually want me to) so I'm sure this is something that your son can help you with. It's very easy to think of yourself as the parent the one who knows everything that is best for your son, and that they either don't understand or have been sucked in to some kind of trick, but bear in mind that this is likely to be exactly how your son feels about you. I've worked with plenty of parents who feel the same way. But the science is very clear on this, and the facts and figures don't lie. The detransition rate is exceptionally low, and among those who do decide to detransition, the majority do so because of societal pressures. I noted someone in the thread above who claimed that this was a myth used by the trans affirming community to support the trans "agenda'' but this is categorically not the case.

My best advice is to simply work with your son. If he feels more comfortable going by a different name, with different pronouns or present differently, support him in that. Also remember that your feelings are valid too, both positive and negative, but that you shouldn't push them onto your son as a coping method. It's understandable that you may feel some sort of loss, but these are your feelings to work through. If therapy isn't right for you, as you said above, look for some other way to manage your feelings whilst supporting your son.

Good luck to both you and your son with this, and feel free to reach out for any more help and advice (for the both of you!)

I’ve spent over a year researching both sides of the issue (something trans activists fail to do) and am okay with how I feel. How my daughter chooses to present is up to her and I love and support her wholeheartedly. What I don’t support is her rushing to medicalization at barely 19 and giving herself absolutely no options for her future and a lifetime of medical treatment. If she is 23/24 and still feeling this way then she is truly an adult and I would never be estranged from her. She’s a pretty amazing person right now- I want her to be herself - with options in life. And I’m gradually becoming at peace with that.

OP posts:
DoctorMason · 22/12/2023 18:57

I'm not sure you're giving enough credit to the many, many trans activists (myself included) who are exceptionally knowledgeable about the science behind it. But that's by the by. What's important is that your son is happy living a life that he feels comfortable is living, and I'm very glad to hear that you'll support him as a person regardless of what that life looks like.

RIPDotCotton · 22/12/2023 19:26

DoctorMason · 22/12/2023 18:57

I'm not sure you're giving enough credit to the many, many trans activists (myself included) who are exceptionally knowledgeable about the science behind it. But that's by the by. What's important is that your son is happy living a life that he feels comfortable is living, and I'm very glad to hear that you'll support him as a person regardless of what that life looks like.

My ‘son’ is still my daughter. Confused… yes. With co-morbidities- yes - ADHD, possible POS, elements of undiagnosed high functioning autism- possibly.
Until she deals with her health as a whole, as an adult, then she is still female.

OP posts:
DoctorMason · 22/12/2023 19:35

Yes that's fairly normal in trans people, a significant proportion are also autistic, amongst other possible diagnoses. That doesn't make them any less able to make decisions about their bodies, their actions or the way they present themselves to the world. Regardless of how your son ''deals with his health'' he is entitled to basic respect and compassion. And an he identifies as male and presumably uses he/him pronouns, that is what I will use for him. If you choose not to that's your decision, and nobody can force you to change that.

LittleMissSunshiner · 22/12/2023 19:48

My niece's best friend took her own life within a few days of 'top surgery'. She had been living as male for a long time before the surgery.

There are no approved published and peer reviewed papers or follow up studies either short, medium, or long term, of what becomes of people who take up drug, hormones, or surgical treatments.

Until there are, the truth about the level of harm cannot be known or commented upon.

However, I've watched enough detransitioners videos to feel convinced that these actions are deathly dangerous. I know people who have 'transitioned' IRL and they're not well people IMO.

Why can't youngsters be persuaded to live however they like but not mutilate themselves?

RIPDotCotton · 22/12/2023 19:58

LittleMissSunshiner · 22/12/2023 19:48

My niece's best friend took her own life within a few days of 'top surgery'. She had been living as male for a long time before the surgery.

There are no approved published and peer reviewed papers or follow up studies either short, medium, or long term, of what becomes of people who take up drug, hormones, or surgical treatments.

Until there are, the truth about the level of harm cannot be known or commented upon.

However, I've watched enough detransitioners videos to feel convinced that these actions are deathly dangerous. I know people who have 'transitioned' IRL and they're not well people IMO.

Why can't youngsters be persuaded to live however they like but not mutilate themselves?

100%

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