Something that’s completely reversible is using the name and pronouns that your child wants. Maybe you’re already doing this, and that’s great! If not, this would be a good chance for your child to see if it feels right.

A “male” name is no problem. Wearing “men’s clothes” (I’ve often worn “men’s clothes” my entire adult life, having imbibed in the 70s-80s the then-radical-why-did-we-go-backwards-in-the-2000s idea that a WOman can wear anything she wants) is cool. But the pronoun thing feels like a slippery slope. I don’t think a person with two x chromosomes and a scientifically-verifiable female body is a “he” or a “him.” Transition is a conveyer belt, and certain things (like being called “he”) seem to me like they would increase dysphoria. Let me say I don’t doubt for a minute that the feeling and idea of dysphoria are real. I don’t question a person’s feelings. What I question is what to DO with that feeling.

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