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Absolutely. I want my children to be able to be themselves, whoever that may be. Of course, at such a young age I'd want to be SURE that's what he/she wanted. If it was, then yes.

ETA: Also, regarding the "oh, they just wanted a boy" argument -- you'd need to have two really F-ed up people in order for them to do such a thing to their kid. It just seems highly unlikely that they forced this upon them because of their own issues.

After watching their video, I absolutely think they did the right thing. I'd let simple things happen, hair, clothes, etc. But nothing medical until lots of therapy and until the kid is at least 8-10 and understands that this is forever if they change hormones.

Absolutely! I would never want to force my child to be someone she isn't. I think these parents are doing the right thing.

I would support my child no matter what.

But I'm super curious how this would look (i.e. manifest) in such a young child! Not doubting at all, just curious.

@SugarplumsMom: +1

Absolutely. I want my child to be happy, confident and feel like himself. It would be hard I admit BC you have to get use to the idea of your child being a different gender but at the end of the day my child's happiness and mental wellbeing will come first. I would adapt and being 100% accepting

I love this video and yes I would totally support my child and their decision.

@Mrs.Someone: @SugarplumsMom: i thought the same thing and then watched the video and believe they absolutely did the right thing for their child and family and treated him with such love and respect. i know i would mourn the child i thought he was before, but just seeing how happy he is now... wow.

i agree with PPs that i wouldn't want allow any irreversible changes until graduation of HS or 18. obviously it would be an ongoing conversation, but only because while i do think that this child knows what he wants, i don't think anyone can understand the gravity of choices to transition fully until then.

@mediagirl: Bullies are a huge concern for transgendered kids... I liked this quote on the subject though:

<< “Gender dysphoria in children is not a psychopathology. And in the vast majority of cases it is not caused by other psychopathology, either. Nor is it generally caused by a particular family pattern, any more than gayness is caused by the old stereotype of controlling mother and passive father. It is just an essential part of who you are. Not that there aren’t any coexisting psychosocial issues. But the problems generally come from outside. If an 8-year-old girl has a really hard time in school because of her short hair and boyish clothes, and is bullied for that, that’s not her pathology—it’s the world’s.” >>

http://nymag.com/news/features/transgender-children-2012-6/

As for his transition, sex is tied to biology but gender is socially constructed... so a big part of a transition is self-identifying as your new gender. It's very common to be uncomfortable with this topic. That link above really educated me - a lot of parents struggled to get comfortable with what was going on with their kids, but their kids had a ticking clock on them because of puberty. It's a race against time, and the losers are usually the transgendered kid unfortunately...

I would do the same thing these parents are doing. It would definitely be hard, this is something DH and I have discussed. I know for me it would be hard to see my little girl be a boy, but that's because I've always wanted a girl. I'd quickly mourn the loss of my idea about who my child was supposed to be and accept who my child is.

Too many people throw their children away because they can't accept who their children are. In addition to the suicide rate of transgender individuals, the homeless rate of trans youth is high, too.

Yes, I would absolutely do what this family is doing, though I'm sure it would be hard at first. I read a fantastic book, Far From the Tree, which had a chapter dedicated to transgender people and how their parents handled the situation. It was really eye-opening and confirmed that what the parents in the video did is completely the best thing to try to avoid the depression issues that usually arise.

Yes, we will let him self-identify as whomever he wants to be. It may not be something I understand all that well or am even super comfortable with - there was a 50-something man at my last job that transitioned and it was very uncomfortable for me and many people with how he went about it. But I love my son too much to risk his life and his happiness for the sake of my vision for who he should be.

ETA: To all those who say they'd wait until their kids are older, I think the issue is that before puberty there's options to stop it from happening. But once they reach a certain development point, it'll be a much more difficult medical change later.

Holy crap, you scared the crap out of me when you say helping a transgendered kid from being a girl to a boy. I thought they literally did an operation on him (from female parts to male parts, you know). Thank God it was just an identity change of "she" to "he", hair and clothing change.

Yes of course I would change (in terms of helping him / her identify with the gender he / she identifies with). I wouldn't even have that long hair phase to be honest. I just feel bad for him when he grows up and his voice doesn't change and the female parts (boobs) come in. Then when he falls in love his girlfriend would kinda be like a lesbian, and how do you break the news to her...etc. Just a difficult road to go on a daily basis. God bless him and I hope he is tough enough to go through it. I hope our society will become a much more mature and open place then too to accept this.

Definitely no operation until he/she becomes an adult. This is his/her own call then.

I have to say, in a way, it is much easier to go from girl to boy. It is a MUCH tougher road for a boy going to be a girl.

@mrbee: +1!

@irene: In adults, from my own observations, the males to females are generally the happiest. I've yet to meet a truly happy female to male transition. But it all depends on what they are looking for. I have no idea why, except if they want to be surgically transitioned, the surgery from female to male is more difficult. So there seems to be more dysphoria.

@mamimami: I also noticed the stereotype in the video, but I wonder if maybe they focused on the pink/frilly/ruffles to sort of show people that they DID want and celebrate her being a girl and treated her as a girl, so that naysayers wouldn't accuse them of pushing her into being a boy because that's what they wanted.

@Espion: Very true about the surgery part that girl to boy is much more difficult. I am just thinking the "growing up" part. For a girl identifying as a boy, s/he is just a cool tom-boy who wears pants and has short hair. For a boy identifying himself as a girl, s/he may get seriously beat up for dressing and acting like a girl and play with dolls. I guess the happiness part happens for whoever is strong enough to deal with this crap for 20+ years and at the end of the road to a successful transformation/operation.

@mamimami: I really identify with what you said. I will love my kids no matter what, but I'm not sure what I would do. Difficult, no matter what.

@mrbee: slightly off topic but I work at a very progressive place, so from day 1 you learn everyone's PGP (preferred gender pronoun) and they learn yours. There are a couple of people who go by "they" and it still trips me up because I'm so not used to using "they" as a pronoun for an individual.

@mrsjazz: I somewhat know someone who is androgynous and what he says is "pansexual" and he uses the pronouns "we" and "my people". I thought it was weird. I'm not sure why he does though?