A new documentary explores the agony of what it’s like to be a transgender child
LOOKING at the kid doing cartwheels on the lawn, you see a happy little girl. But nine-year-old Warner was in fact born a boy.
“I think God made a mistake,” Warner had told his parents.
Instead of being shocked or trying to force their child into a gender role, it’s they who’ve done the adapting: they’ve accepted that instead of a son they now have a daughter. They refer to their child as “she” and support all her choices. She likes to wear her hair long and has a preference for sparkles and the colour pink, explains her mother, Melissa, from Ottawa in Canada.
Warner is just one of the children featured in the new BBC documentary Transgender Kids: Who Knows Best? which is airing on DStv. They talk about what it’s like to be a transgender child and adolescent, and feeling trapped in the wrong body.
The documentary focuses on the transgender children and adolescents who experience gender dysphoria – in other words, they experience constant discomfort and distress because their gender identity doesn’t match the gender assigned to them at birth.
“There’s nothing wrong with being a boy, but I don’t enjoy being a boy,” Warner explains. “I’m not the full puzzle – there are a couple of pieces missing. My life’s journey is to find the missing pieces.”
But it’s not going to be easy. Somewhere down the road she’ll need to decide if she wants to be placed on treatment that will pause her puberty process – if she chooses this route it will mean her development will be delayed so she won’t develop distinctive male features such as a prominent Adam’s apple, facial hair, muscles and a deep voice.
This will buy her time while she decides whether she wants to start oestrogen therapy to fully transition.
Bu hikaye YOU South Africa dergisinin September 21, 2017 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye YOU South Africa dergisinin September 21, 2017 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
HOW TO BE YOUR OWN THERAPIST
With more and more of us struggling with our mental health, here's a common-sense guide to coping with life's ups and downs
SPUD: THE MAGIC CONTINUES
John van de Ruit tells us why he decided to write a sequel - and shares how his first book helped him find enduring love
SEX CONTRACT GONE WRONG
A Cape Town couple have been charged with using a young woman as a sex slave-but some say she lost the job she signed up for and now has a grudge against them
LIAM LAID TO REST
More than a month after One Direction singer LIAM PAYNE (31) tragically fell to his death from a balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, his loved ones finally got to say their goodbyes.
SHILOH HANGS OUT
THE two young women look like any pair of good friends chatting and laughing as they leave their dance class in Los Angeles.
LEO IN LOVE
He's just turned 50 and it seems Leonardo DiCaprio may finally be ready to settle down
PACKING A PUNCH
Irish actor Paul Mescal beefed up for his role in the blockbuster epic Gladiator II - and fans are loving it
I DIDN'T CHOOSE TO BE A LOVE CHILD
As the illegitimate daughter of the king, she fought to be recognised as part of Belgium's royal family, but Princess Delphine says she still feels unwelcome
'I STILL HAVE NIGHTMARES'
A bite from a spitting cobra 13 years ago nearly killed her but Mikayla survived - and she's made peace with her scars
THE CLAWS ARE OUT!
Things have grown frosty between the Beckhams and the Sussexes as Becks comes out in clear support of William