The transgender father of a 5-year-old boy who wants to be a girl says he did not talk his child into becoming transgender, too.
The Daily Mail newspaper in London profiled a family Sunday that is receiving criticism and is being called “Britain’s first two-generation transgender family.” The 27-year-old transgender father, Greg, was born a girl and has had his breasts removed but has yet to have sex-reassignment surgery. His partner is 21-year-old Jody, the biological mother who considers herself heterosexual. They are not married, although they share the same last name.
They say their son started wearing dresses a year ago and wanted long hair and his nails painted. They now consider him a girl and call him Jayden. Jayden’s school treats him like a girl.
“She developed speech and immediately started saying, ‘I hate wearing boys’ clothes and everything about being a boy,’” Greg told the newspaper. “At first, we thought it was probably just a phase but it’s been consistent ever since. She is adamant she’s a girl.”
Jody said she “had a son one moment and a daughter the next.”
“It probably took me six months to start accepting that it was what Jayden really wanted,” Jody said. “It’s been like a grieving process for me, though. I do miss having a son and, as a baby, Jayden looked so much like a boy. I look back at photographs of him now, in his little suits, and it’s like a different person.”
Health professions told the couple they “must give Jayden the choice.”
“Every morning for almost a year she’s chosen girls’ clothing,” Greg said.
Greg changed gender at the age of 16.
“We haven’t encouraged Jayden to do this, despite what people think, and we are hurt at the suggestion,” Greg said. “She has no idea that I’m transgender.”
Michael Foust is a freelance writer. Visit his blog, MichaelFoust.com.
Photo courtesy: Pixabay
