Here’s an uplifting story of a kid named Jack, who as a young child flat-out said he wanted to be a girl, and whose parents listened and completely supported his transition into young womanhood. Jack is now Jackie, and her mom says, “I don’t feel like we ever truly had a son, we had a daughter that was unfortunately born in the wrong body.”
When she was just 18 months old, it struck Jackie’s parents that something might be different. Jackie loved sparkly dresses, pretty shoes, and Barbie dolls, and refused to play with toy trucks and other traditionally “male” toys. At first Jackie’s parents thought that Jackie might be gay, and when the little girl was just 2 or 3, her Mother did a little research on the internet and discovered what being transgender meant. She recalled saying at the time, “Huh, I wonder.”
School was tough for Jackie, who was constantly bullied until she finally broke down. Jackie came home from school a week after turning ten, crying, and told her Mother that she had something she needed to tell her: “I’m a girl and I can’t do this anymore.”
When they first began the transisition, Jackie’s parents would let her dress up as a girl at home, but go to school as a boy. After some argument, they decided to let the child live as a girl. Now, they say Jackie has a social life and many more play dates. She lives in a pink bedroom filled with girly things, and she’s an all-around happier child.
It’s worth nothing that not everyone in their rural, family-values Ohio town is supportive, including Jackie’s grandfather. He says, “I cannot accept that a 9- or 10-year-old can make decisions for himself or herself that will be life-lasting.” Her parents, however, are more worried about Jackie finding a mate later in life and whether or not she’ll be discriminated against in the workplace. These are obvious problem down the road, but seem a small price to pay for an individual’s greater happiness.