“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?… Ryan is now 12 and goes by the name Sylvia… Tom, who says he always felt like his twin was a girl, isn’t surprised by the twists their lives have taken so far. “I do wonder what it would be like to have a brother,” he says, smiling at Sylvia mischievously, “But I guess a sister cuts it.””♥__________♥
When my sister and I were kids, both our parents worked and so we were basically raised by Clementina, the most awesome nanny anyone could ask for. When Maia and I were about 5 and 7 respectively, Clementina had her son, Kevin. He was always shy and skittish around people, even my sister and I despite growing up with him.
When he was 14, he started hearing voices that told him to take his own life. He was horribly depressed and doctors diagnosed him as schizophrenic. The drugs they had him on turned him into a zombie, so his parents were forced to take him out of school and hope for the best.
Kevin is now 18. I spoke with his mother a few weeks ago only to discover that the shy little boy I knew is now a bubbly, vivacious 18 year old trans-girl named Allison. Clementina said that ever since he was little he’d asked his mom why he was different, and she never realized what his real question was until about a year ago. Allison is thriving. All signs of schizophrenia are gone, she has more friends than ever and all of the friends she had before the transformation have stuck by her. She even plans to return to school in the fall.
I should mention that Allison (Kevin) and her family are from a conservative, Catholic background, but the love that they have for each other supersedes all of that. Allison’s parents have been nothing but supportive of her transition. It makes me so happy when people like the family in the story above love and accept a child for who and what they are, regardless of their own beliefs.
