by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on December 12, 2011
The Boston Sunday Globe recently ran a cover story about a Children’s Hospital Boston family being treated at our Gender Management Services Clinic (GeMS). It was an in-depth and well-written piece about a family raising a transgender teenager and her treatment at Children’s. The GeMS Clinic is the first major program in the United States to focus on gender identity disorder in children and adolescents, a population who are often victims of bullying and harassment and have the highest rate of suicide attempts in the world.
I highly recommend the Boston Globe article, as well as the following companion blog, in which the father of the family discusses why they chose to share their story with the world…
My wife Kelly and I have had a number of defining moments since our twin children came into our lives. Each has been special in it’s own way, but most of these moments have been things that all parents can relate to: birthdays, first days of school and teaching the kids to ride a bike. But our family has also seen our fair share of different experiences; experiences that have been both frightening and extraordinary. Even some things that seemed simple at first went on to have a level of complexity we never expected.
Since sharing our story, we’ve met so many special people that have helped Nicole and changed our family forever. When we met Dr. Norman Spack, at Children’s Gender Management Services Clinic (GeMS) it was the first time we felt hope that Nicole could one day achieve her dreams. During that first visit, he lifted a tremendous amount of fear and worry from our shoulders and the smile on Nicole’s face when she left his office will forever be imprinted in my memory. I am not ashamed to say that I had doubts at first, but in one visit Dr. Spack erased them and set my family on a wonderful journey. Full story »
by Tripp Underwood on December 22, 2010
Sexual minority youth are nine times more likely to harbor suicidal thoughts than their counterparts
Adolescence can be a difficult time, even for teenagers who seem extremely well-adjusted. Physical and hormonal changes are hard enough to deal with, but when you add feelings of isolation and loneliness to the mix, it can make the whole process that much worse. Sadly this is reality for many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) teens. But a new study in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing shows positive attitudes from family members towards LGBT teens reduces their risk for depression, suicidal thoughts, substance abuse and often results in the formation of healthier relationships in adulthood.
Sounds like good— if not a tad obvious— information for parents of LGBT kids, but as pointed out by Scott Leibowitz, MD, of Children’s Hospital Boston’s Department of Psychiatry, it’s important knowledge for any adult who interacts with kids, not just the parents of openly gay or transgender children. Full story »
by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on November 20, 2010
The following was written by the father of a transgender child. His child has seen specialists at Children’s Hospital Boston and the process has drastically changed his views on family and acceptance. Please read their story, as well as his reflections on parenting a transgender child.
Today is Transgender Remembrance Day. A few years ago, if you asked me what this day represents, I would have said I didn’t even know what transgender means, never mind that there’s a whole day dedicated to the memory of transgender people who’ve been victimized by hate crimes. I may have been unaware of these issues back then, but I’m a different person now. Since opening up about my daughter Sylvia’s experiences as a transgender tween, my eyes have been opened to many issues concerning the transgender community; some good, some not.
The other night I had one of those “not so good” moments. As I was tucking Sylvia in for bed, she took my hand and told me she had something to tell me. “Daddy, I’m working on a project for Transgender Remembrance Day,” she said. “Did you know people are being murdered and raped because they’re transgender?” Full story »
by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on August 8, 2010
by Melissa Jeltsen on July 21, 2010
Once you’ve read this story, make sure to check out the essay by the twins’ father as he discusses what it’s like to raise a transgender child.
Although born identical twins with matching DNA, Tom* and Ryan were two immensely different children. As toddlers, Tom entertained himself with toy trucks while Ryan fawned over his girl cousin’s Barbies and Little Mermaid dolls. Photo after photo of them at that age show Ryan with a t-shirt wrapped around his head, mimicking long, flowing hair. At age 4, he asked his mom, Cecelia, a heartbreaking question: When do I get to be a girl? A few months later, while assisting his dad, Dennis, with a plumbing job, he told him that he hated his own penis. Dennis choked up. “I cried and he cried, and then his brother came in and we all hugged and cried,” he says.
When he was 6, his parents sought professional advice. A local psychiatrist diagnosed Ryan with gender identity disorder (GID) or transgenderism, a rare condition in which a biological male or female feels a strong identification with the opposite sex and is extremely uncomfortable with his or her own gender. Full story »
by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on October 31, 2009
by Matt Cyr on July 14, 2009
A Boston Globe article talks about anti-bias legislation being discussed at the State House today. If passed, it would “add gender identity to the antidiscrimination law that protects people based on sexual orientation, gender and race. It would also amend the state hate crimes law to cover transgender people.”
Norm Spack, MD, from Children’s Hospital Boston’s Gender Management Services (GeMS) Clinic, has devoted much of his career to the clinical and psychosocial needs of transgender people, including recently co-authoring with the Endocrine Society’s international task force clinical guidelines for people who want to transition from the gender they were born in to the one they believe they should be. He’s glad for the protections the legislation might afford if passed, but has mixed feelings about what it says about society.
Transgender people are simply people, and it’s a sad commentary on our society that we need to apply special anti-discrimination laws for them as we have had to do in the past for victims of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or race.
I don’t think of transgender people as “changing genders.” We have nearly 100 such individuals in our GeMS program and almost every one of them felt from early childhood that they were born with the wrong body. Therefore, rather than changing genders, trans people are affirming the gender they always had. They are changing gender roles, that, in some cases they could not change earlier due to bullying and discrimination.
Whether it’s race, sexual orientation or gender identity, we need to stop discriminating against people for being who they are.
Surgeons put an 
Multiple studies show how 
