Genspect parents on American Conversation podcast
By Michael T
Written by Genspect parent Lynn Chadwick.
On the American Conversation podcast episode that aired January 20, 2021, three parents discuss their experiences as parents of children who have or are considering medical transition and how the organization Genspect has helped them and others who are struggling to help their children.
David’s daughter, who recently turned 18, experimented with several identities before declaring herself transgender. David and his wife are left-leaning, progressive parents who at first saw no harm in it. Five years later, they are concerned for her while maintaining a strong connection. “What we feel like is our responsibility, our job, and our hope is to ensure our daughter has the best possible hope of a healthy and happy long-term life, and we feel strongly that going down the path of medicalization, which is where this transgender identity tends to lead these young people, would be a mistake.”
Dee’s daughter was adopted from China. In 2019 her friend group began to consist of kids who were all claiming a transgender identity. “When I realized that therapy wasn’t working, I had to hack her entire phone. I was shocked to see that the friends she had attached her to had exposed her to lesbian porn, Tumblr, DeviantArt. My child told her friends that I forced her to wear pink dresses, which wasn’t true. The friends said, you are really lucky because all of your friends have a safe house for you. Your mother is a gaslighter, a trauma bonder, textbook abusive, and your father needs to divorce your mother. I was sickened by all of this. For six months I had been researching what had been going on before I finally found Lisa Littman’s study. This is rapid onset gender dysphoria. It happened in less than 12 weeks. Her current therapist has been treating her for 18 months and says she’s not transgender but suffers from pre-adoption trauma and is still entrenched in the ideology. She says our child has a fear of growing up, with no sense of where she comes from and can’t see where she is is going. I had to run interference with teachers, administrators, guidance counselors, all of whom thankfully have been cooperative.
Dee continues: “We are hoping that love rules at the end of the day. I think the primal wound of abandonment here is responsible for this extraordinary identity crisis, and we need to help her find that piece of her heart that she feels like she’s missing, before she harms herself.”
Lynn has two young adult kids who were over 18 when they medically transitioned. “We’ve been hearing a little bit more in the media about teenagers who are transitioning, and that’s very concerning, but I think there’s a larger story that hasn’t been told, which is that a large number of young people in their college years are getting into this. It’s very difficult for parents because once your child is 18 suddenly they are a legal adult supposedly capable of making sound decisions at all times, and they can walk into any Planned Parenthood in the US, sign a form, and get hormones. It’s really easy.”
The parents relate how Genspect has supported and helped parents in many ways. Dee elaborates: “They have so many resources for parents. They have resources to help you talk to the schools, to talk to your medical providers, it’s amazing. Genspect is a critical resource for parents who don’t know where to turn, because so many of us have felt marginalized.”