Local Matters: Transgender children and youth

For Jane, her husband and her son, this month is a good one. Last Friday, they went to the Ministry of Justice, handed in the Antrag to officially change their child’s name – from a female to a male name. Once this is done, “we will open a bottle of champagne”, Jane says. Good months have been exceptional for the family during the past year. They were worried about the mental health of their child. Jane says: “She isolated more and more, we thought it was because of puberty and the change of school. But one day, she cut her wrist. That was an alarm signal for us.” For a long time, Jane and her husband didn’t know what their daughter’s problem was. After the suicide attempt, the sent her to a psychologist and the sessions slowly made clear that their daughter is actually their son. For Jane and her husband, finding out that they have a transgender son, “was a shock, but also a relief”, Jane tells us in our interview.

Listen to their story in our interview on Local Matters.