Leaning In with Love, Not Ideology
A new book provides parents of gender-dysphoric children with a much-needed lifeline of insight and practical wisdom.
When Kids Say They’re Trans: A Guide for Parents, by Sasha Ayad, Lisa Marchiano, and Stella O’Malley (Pitchstone Publications, 304 pp., $19.95)
In the small world of gender-critical discourse, and for families torn apart by gender ideology, Lisa Marchiano, Stella O’Malley, and Sasha Ayad are already akin to cult heroines and household names. The three psychotherapists have sounded alarm bells about what they’ve seen in their clinical practices. Now they’ve written a book chronicling their experience.
Marchiano, O’Malley, and Ayad have worked for years with today’s emergent cohort of gender-distressed youth and their families. Each is a member of the Gender Exploratory Therapy Association (GETA), a leading gender-medicine group. O’Malley founded Genspect, an influential professional and educational organization that promotes evidence-based approaches to conceptualizing and treating gender dysphoria. Ayad, together with O’Malley, hosts a podcast entitled Gender: A Wider Lens, which explores the concept of gender with nuance lacking in most coverage of this topic. Marchiano cohosts a podcast on the depth psychology of Carl Jung, aptly titled This Jungian Life.
In When Kids Say They’re Trans: A Parent’s Guide, the authors consolidate their clinical knowledge into a pragmatic handbook—it may be a lifeline for some—designed to educate parents about the state of knowledge on gender dysphoria and present the range of treatment options at parents’ disposal. Each chapter is short and digestible, covering topics like medical and social transition, family dynamics, sexuality, detransition, desistance, managing conflict with your child, and parental self-care. Despite its concision, the book impressively interweaves useful anecdotes from case studies with a masterful command of the psychological and medical literature on gender-affirming care.