Children With Transgender Parents

Very few studies have attempted to observe or measure the impact on children of a parent’s gender transition. Yet many people seeking gender-affirming treatments—transitioning to live fully as a member of the opposite sex—are parents. Reports from gender clinics in the United States and national surveys estimate that 38% to 65% of transgender people are parents. A 1978 study followed 16 children of transsexual parents on a long-term basis and concluded that they did not differ appreciably from children raised in traditional homes. But there are no guidelines as to when, or how, to tell a child about a parent’s impending transition. Since 2000, sweeping changes in technology, medicine, and culture have made gender transitions far less taboo than in previous decades. But despite the ...