Three Things I Wish Everyone Knew About Having a Transgender Child

#1. Emotionally supporting my transgender child is a life-and-death decision.

Really. Truly. Honestly. And statistically — with lots of actual data to back it up.

If I choose not to support my child (or my child is forced into environments where they are not supported), the chances of her harming herself go up to over 80%. The chances of her attempting suicide if she is not supported are anywhere between 40% to 60%. All studies agree that the self-harm rates are very high for gender-creative kids who are not in supportive environments.

But a transgender or non-binary child who is supported and loved just as they are? Their chances of suicide and self-harm go back down to the same low risk as their cisgender classmates, which is 4%. You read that right. The cases of self-harm go down to 4% merely by being validated as they are.

Supporting our kids is not a whim we, as parents, cater to. It isn’t cute or funny or that we “let our kid dress how she wants.” We are not giving in to some typical parent-child battle where we “should be standing firm.” We are listening to our child and honoring who she consistently tells us SHE IS because if we don’t, there are astronomically high odds that she will eventually hurt herself. If we simply love her as she is, those…