Age 8 & Wanting A Sex Change

[Windmills]

Anyone watching, it's on channel 4 right now?
I.. don't know what to think

 

[Dream.A.Dream]

I'm kind of watching it. I don't really know what I think either yet xx

 

[Windmills]

That German girl who'd had the sex change is really pretty!
I don't know, I really think 12 is too young to have such a big life changing thing.

 

[Dream.A.Dream]

I agree, but these kids really seem to believe that they are girls, and that they just for some reason were born with the wrong bits xx

 

[Blah11]

Um, I dunno how I feel about it to be honest. On one hand I think 8 is so, so young but on the other, if at 8 she knows she wants to be a girl and feels like she IS a girl then it's better she does everything before puberty.

 

[Windmills]

I agree, I think it's better to do it young, but then they just said most children 'grow out' of gender dysmorphia. It must be the hardest decision in the world!

 

[Dream.A.Dream]

It must, tbh I'm just watching and hoping this isn't something that ever affects my LO xx

 

[lesleyann]

im finding it very intresting but im still not sure about the age thing

 

[Dream.A.Dream]

This is such a deep discussion about fertility to be having with such a young child xx

 

[lesleyann]

This is such a deep discussion about fertility to be having with such a young child xx

i kind of got that feeling and also from the way he acted seems like he was not to sure about being a boy anymore because he wants children and at his age i did not no i had eggs and that they could be removed

 

[Windmills]

Yeah, when I was 12 I absolutely didn't know what I wanted, and definitely wouldn't have been able to make a decision like that about my fertility!

 

[Dream.A.Dream]

Very big decisions for such young kids. For that child discussing future fertility it sounded when the mum was talking as if she was making it about her too, saying she didn't know if she'd ever have grandkids now..but it's not about her!! xx

 

[mommy43]

mmmmm i just think its too much of a decision for someone that young to make most kids dont know what they want to do for a job at that age are they really ready to decide something that will change the whole of the rest of their life??????

 

[Snowball]

To me it seemed like the mothers were pushing them. I'm not saying the condition doesn't exsist but from what I could see they were kind of egging them on to change themselves. One mother describing her sons penis as a 'birth defect'. Would you really say that to your child?

 

[Tegans Mama]

I'm watching it now on 4od..

 

[jen1604]

Can I just jump in late on this one?

The biggest issue for me with it all was that it actually said that for people who have gender dysphoria as children,the majority of them do grow out of it...Which made me wonder if it was the right thing for the parents to be doing to be actively talking about and encouraging a sex change when the child is older?I kind of thought should they be actively encouraging their child to want to change their gender permanently if theres more of a chance that they'll identify when theyre older as the gender they were born as?I guess it must be tricky to identify the line between supporting your child and encouraging something which they might later regret?Obviously you take that chance when anyone has a sex change BUT surely its even more of a risk with a child with gender dysphoria?

x

 

[Seraphim]

Hmm, it (the medical intervention/plans) did seem to me to be more about appeasing the parents discomfort

When the girl went to the hair dressers for a short back and sides... I was reminded of a girl I went to primary school with (I'd totally forgotten this about her) she was a 'tomboy' and there was no huge fuss. She was totally like the girl on the programme.

I just came away from the programme feeling those kids were saying things and having ideas about things which they couldn't possibly come up with on their own.

I'm not saying there isn't a real issue there - but it seemed hijacked by the adults' interpretation of the situation.

 

[nessajane]

I watched this and was shocked

How can the parents encourage children at such a young age to make such a life changing decision!!! Children in America should not be able to make that kind of decision untill they are 16, like here in UK.

Children go through phases, whos to say they are not going through one and will grow out of it

 

[marley2580]

I saw this and a phase does not last 6 years. Fair enough if you don't want them making the decision until they are 16, but at least let them delay their puberty until then! I can't imagine how awful it must be to know that you are one gender and have to go through the puberty of the opposite gender. And while I agree that at that age I could not have made an informed decision about my fertility (though I never thought about it, it may have been different if I had to think about it), I KNEW that I was female and if someone had tried to force me to go through male puberty and live as a boy, I think I would have really suffered.

If one of my daughters came to me and said that inside they were male, then I would do anything to make them happy. I don't think these parents have made these decisions lightly.

 

[amylk87]

I watched this and thought that the children seemed very sure in themselves about who they were but i was also concerned that 8 is very young to make such a dramatic decision. I agree to a certain extent about the parents sort of 'pushing' this decision rather than supporting, they were encouraging it. I wouldn't encourage any sex change in my child until they were definitely old enough to make such a decision and that it was definite that it was the best thing for them. But at 8? No i would not be encouraging a sex change.