How to Talk About Gender with Your Child

For a parent who has never experienced gender dysphoria themselves, sitting down and talking with their child about gender can be confusing and scary. Parents want to be supportive of their child, but this is hard to understand. First of all, it’s okay if you don’t understand gender dysphoria right now. The most important thing is to approach the subject with your child with interest and curiosity. We recommend asking a few of the questions below, and then just listen.

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Holidays with Gender Dysphoria

Holidays are often a time of extended family getting together and catching up on life. This can be wonderful and it can be very stressful. There are many different things about the holidays that can trigger and worsen gender dysphoria. Below are examples of a variety of different things that could potentially be challenging. If you are someone struggling with gender dysphoria, then this is for you. Also if you are a parent of a child struggling with gender dysphoria then here are some things to think about and look out for. Perhaps you could talk about these things with your child before family gatherings.

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Skipping School Because of Gender Dysphoria

What should parents do when their teen struggling with gender dysphoria and high anxiety ends up missing a lot of school? Getting up in the morning and taking on a full day of responsibilities can be daunting and overwhelming for them. The idea of rolling out of their safe, warm, protected bed to face a day full of socializing, learning, and participating can be too much (especially when they know they have limits and pushing those limits could result in a panic attack). The idea of having a panic attack in school is so mortifying that just the idea of it can make them want to stay home.

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It's OK to Not Know

It’s common in todays culture to be told: “Be yourself!” “Be you!” “Just do you!” But what do you do if you don’t know who you are yet!?!? Identity development is a life long journey. It’s okay to not know who you are yet. It takes time and experimenting to figure out what fits you and what doesn’t fit. You don’t have to have it all figured out. Especially if you are an adolescent exploring the deep and complex concept of gender.

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Kathryn HeltzelComment