Living as a Transgendered Child

How to Cope as a Child who is Considered Different

Jun 2, 2007

Looking back into their childhood, two transvestite interviewees relate their personal experiences living as a transgendered youth.

According to APA Online, "There is no one generally accepted explanation for why some people are transgender. Many experts believe that biological factors such as genetic influences and prenatal hormone levels, early experiences in a person’s family of origin, and other social influences can all contribute to the development of transgender behaviors and identities."

Further to a previous interview with "Jane", she is joined by a cross-dresser named "Deidre" and they are asked to relate back to their childhood.

Question: How old were you when you realized you were “different” than other children?

Question: What do you think attributed to transgenderism in your childhood?

Jane: I was brought up in a single parent home with one sister and a very overly protective mother who had a bad attitude towards men. My father was a drunk and beat us all as kids.

Deidre: It was always my mother and sisters doing things with me rather than my father. He was a great father but keeping with the male image had to work to keep the family going.

Jane: I felt alienation and shame. I managed to go a few years, with out being teased, but as I got older, the urge to be a girl just got stronger. Many times in school I got caught wearing things that only woman would wear. My mom sure heard about that from school counselors. When my mom asked whether I needed professional help she was told “no”, the school counselors were more than able to deal with this problem.

Well guess what, that was the worse thing that could have happened, they went out of their way to embarrass me and to get other kids to call me sissy and things. Finally after coming home and wanting to kill myself, I got transferred to another school where it was not brought up again

Deidre: I would put my sister’s underwear on and slips, or my mother’s panty hose and skirts. When I was 8 years old my sister caught me dressing up. After that when my mom was out she thought it was a great big deal to dress me up as a girl. She would put a wig on and makeup and a skirt, this went on for more than a year. During this year I grew very fond of what she was doing, and enjoyed it greatly. I never in my childhood played with the guys, it was always the girls

Jane: If there’s gender issue with your child, please get professional help. If you don’t, you are destroying a child’s life that may other wise go on to be a very outstanding person. Check out the counselor and make sure that they deal with this problem

The copyright of the article Living as a Transgendered Child in Transgenderism is owned by Douglas DuHamel. Permission to republish Living as a Transgendered Child in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.