At Age 3 — Transitioning From Jack To Jackie

Just saw this on NPR.

Apparently, this 3 year old boy Jack, for whatever reason(s), felt that he would rather be a girl, and so started his (parent approved) transgender transition to a girl.

"It was May 15, 2014, and I remember the date because Jackie was out of school that day," she [Mary Carter, Jack's mom] says. "We drove to drop her older sister off at kindergarten. And normally Jackie is quite happy and content to hang out with me and play."

"Jackie just looked really, really sad; sadder than a 3-and-a-half-year-old should look," Carter says.

"So I asked. I said, 'Jackie, are you sad that you're not going to school today?' And Jackie was really quiet and put her head down and said 'No, I'm sad because I'm a boy.' "

LINK

So, Jack has an older sister. Being siblings, they obviously play together, and since the older sister was born a girl, they would obvious play like girls play, dressing up, clothes, dolls, etc.

First, my beliefs:

I think that some people *are* born "in the wrong body," so to speak, just as I think that some people are born gay.
But I also think that some people *do* decide to become transgender or [live a] gay [lifestyle], for whatever reasons.
I do not know the ratio, if such a ratio is even known.

My question is this, and one of the first things I wondered when I read the article: I wonder how much Jack having an older sister had to do with him feeling he's sad to be a boy and would rather be a girl? Kids (and adults, but kids even more so) are highly impressionable.

Had he not had an older sister, it's unlikely he would have experienced the gender role of his sister (long hair, dolls, dresses, makeup, etc), thereby making him want to experience the same.
Had he not had an older sister, would he have NOT wanted to be a girl? Can we ever know?

Are the parents right for allowing this in a toddler, since a toddler can't possibly know his or her identity yet, and the social problems and sometimes stigmas that come attached to a kid being this way?

I had younger sisters and they were playing with kitchen sets from the time they could walk (social conditioning much? lol) and wearing high heels at 4, and I even dressed up my younger sisters in army clothes and we played all kinds of guy stuff. She never decided she wanted to be a man.

My kids are over twice his/her age and barely know what they want for breakfast nine times out of ten.

A three year old has their gender all figured out?

Wow.

a reply to: Liquesence

I support gender transitions for adults or even adolescents (that are thoroughly evaluated and educated about the choice that they are making). Having said that...

I don't buy this story. If it's true, the child is too young and the parents are idiots. Period.

What if he had a spiderman costume and played spiderman all day and said "I am sad because I am not spiderman", would those parents want to inject him spider DNA ?

I don't think at this age he can make difference between wanting to be a girl or wanting to be spiderman

originally posted by: Liquesence

I think that some people *are* born "in the wrong body," so to speak, just as I think that some people are born gay.
But I also think that some people *do* decide to become transgender or gay, for whatever reasons.
I do not know the ratio, if such a ratio is even known.

Ancillary to your main point of course, but, given the prejudices and legal restrictions against gays and the additional years of treatment and adjustment of trans-folk ... why would anyone "choose" either of those paths again?

Just curious about the underpinning of that particular "belief" on your part.

originally posted by: gosseyn
What if he had a spiderman costume and played spiderman all day and said "I am sad because I am not spiderman", would those parents want to inject him spider DNA ?

To put a point on it: my oldest wants to be an astronaut, so I've already sent him to space 11 times. He's also said he wants to be a paleontologist so I've sent him on a handful of digs already. My youngest wants to be a professional wrestler so he's been sent to some amateur cage fights over the past couple of years.

That's how parenting works, right?

a reply to: Gryphon66

*Choose to live said lifestyles.

Why would anyone choose as such? I've known people who've done it for socio-economic reasons.
Could be people find more commonality and comfort (mentally, emotionally) with someone of the same sex when there's not an innate, instinctual desire for sex/reproduction.
People get sick of the BS involving the opposite sex, and find the above.

he/she will probably suffer from depression, bi-polar, anxiety, drug abuse and possibly 'criminal' behavior in her 'older more mature' years, the 'tranny' doctors might give/inspire her a tv reality show within a year or two

The child isn't getting hormones or having any physical changes to her body. Obviously it was more than just curiosity and wanting to play with her sisters things. Children know very early what gender they are... 99% of the time it's just 'well duh I have a vagina and I'm a girl, even if I like to cut my hair short, wear boys clothes... I'm a girl'.

Then there's kids, even at three, clearly unhappy with their physical gender and behaviors manifest that go beyond wanting to wear the opposite sex clothing and play as the opposite sex. I see zero wrong with letting a three year old 'boy' identify as a girl.

Man, you are a cultural Marxist's wet dream.
You are amazing. Such a hip, groovy parent.

Anything they say. What a wonderful philosophy ya have.

All I have to do to know what you think, about anything at all, is to watch TV.

a reply to: Kali74

# 468

a reply to: Kali74

If a 15 year old, according to law anyway, can't understand the ramifications of having sex with a 20 year old, how can a three year old understand the ramifications of living as a gender they weren't born as?

a reply to: Kali74

I mostly agree.

Children can know what gender they are early on, but how do we know which is the case here? Does he *really* feel like he identifies as a girl, or is he simply influenced by his environment?

I'm not saying what's happening is right or wrong, I'd just like to understand (in this case) whether it's mostly biological or mostly environmental.

a reply to: TheWhiteKnight

Cultural Marxism... lol.

To be honest. It's the parents who are causing this.

a reply to: Shamrock6

Not the same thing as knowing your gender, not even a little bit. When did you decide that you were a boy? You're a father... did your children ever seem confused about their gender?

a reply to: blacktie

Thanks for being that one person that purposely Slurs Transgender People... claps for you

a reply to: Liquesence

What harm do you think can be done by letting 'him' identify now as a girl? Do you think that if it is just a phase and the parents read the situation wrong, it will be scarring, developmentally detrimental? That in a couple of years if 'he' says well I'm a boy again his parents are going to say... sorry, nope, you chose to be a girl so now you're a girl forever?

a reply to: Kali74

You're right, it's not the same thing at all. One is a teenager, doing what teenagers do.

The other is barely out of diapers.

But yet one isn't capable of making one decision, while the other is? One, who can drive in some/most states, be dropped off at the mall with friends for a few hours, one who can be left at home, but can't make a decision. The other, who can't even make a bowl of cereal without help, can make a decision?

Oh, and no neither of my kids have gender identity issues. Then again, neither of them played with girls more than boys either. What they DO do is adopt the same mannerisms as their best buddies. Like wanting to play minecraft, like wanting to watch pro wrestling when they've literally never seen it once at home, want to get their hair cut in a new way because somebody else got theirs done like it, etc.

Just for a reference, and also you don't just wake up one day and decide to be GLBTQ+

www.healthychildren.org...

Around two-years-old, children become conscious of the physical differences between boys and girls. Before their third birthday, most children are easily able to label themselves as either a boy or a girl. By age four, most children have a stable sense of their gender identity. During this same time of life, children learn gender role behavior—that is, do­ing "things that boys do" or "things that girls do."

originally posted by: Shamrock6
My kids are over twice his/her age and barely know what they want for breakfast nine times out of ten.

A three year old has their gender all figured out?

Wow.

I think letting kids do this this young , out of "being compassionate" is going to have serious long term effects on these kids, NEGATIVE ones......

If youre an adult thats one thing, but this is uncharted territory largely and people are jumping into this willy nilly not knowing the long term consequences