Parenting a Transgender Child

When Sara and Micah’s oldest daughter Naima showed resistance to wearing dresses and playing typical “girl” games, they thought she was a tomboy who someday could be a lesbian. Then one day Naima told Sara she shouldn’t keep correcting people when they confused Naima for a boy.

It’s been about a year now since Naima became Daniel, with full support from his school, friends and parents. But as he grows older, there are lots of unanswered questions. Daniel is 8, but what happens in a few years when he hits puberty? This hour on Focus, host Jim Meadows talks with Sara and Micah about their son and about his transition from Naima to Daniel at school, at home and in the community.

Psychologist Marco Hidalgo, Ph.D., who works with transgender youth and gender non-conforming youth at the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago also joins us. He’ll tell us about what options transgender children and parents have as kids grow older and will talk with us about some of the social obstacles transgendered youth face.