Open Letter to Parents of A “Recently Out” Trans Teenager
It’s a tough road but it’s been successfully navigated
Dear Parents,
You’re probably freaking out right now, but please take a few moments to read our story; if this helps you in any way, these words serve their intended purpose.
Four years ago, at age thirteen, our assigned-male-at birth child came out as transgender.
After knowing her only as male with what we felt were zero signs, we were shocked. We didn’t know anyone at the time who was transgender and barely understood what it meant.
Caitlyn Jenner was our only frame of reference for a transgender person transitioning when our child came out to us; this was not a comfort.
I immediately poured myself a giant glass (read: bottle) of red wine, hugged my husband and cried, mainly because I felt like I’d failed my child because I didn’t see this coming. (She told us via text, and was spending the night away from us at a friend’s house. This time to process a bit was a gift I didn’t realize until later.)
Then I took to the internet to see what research I could do to figure out what was going on in her mind, and cried much more — hysterically this time — at what I found online.
