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Transforming Families

Real Stories about transgendered loved ones; Second Edition, Edited by Mary Boenke
Oak Knoll Press, 2003, I.S.B.N. 0615123074

Real stories about Transgendered Loved Ones is exactly that. 31 authors share their personal journeys from the initial shock or confusion when first learning their loved ones were struggling with gender problems, through the various feelings to final acceptance. The first of it's kind, Trans Forming Families is predicted to become a best seller among transgendered persons and their allies. Robert Berstein, noted author of Straight Parents / Gay Children has written a thought provoking preface and Jessica Xavier's introduction notes the constant public interest in trans-family relationships.

Part 1 includes stories by parents about their young gender variant children, starting with a child's third birthday. This is, to our knowledge, is the first material published by, for and about parents of these special children.

Part 2 is comprised of stories by parents of adult children, including family responses to loved ones' transitions.

In Part 3 eleven spouses and partners of transgendered men and women, including some long time partners, share their personal odyssey's.

Part 4 is written by those crucial others, adult children, grandparents and siblings.

Mom I Need To Be A Girl

By Just Evelyn, BookSurge Publishing 2007, I.S.B.N.1419684388
Mom I Need To Be A Girl is also available online.

This book, written by the single mother of a Transsexual teenager, is a true account of their experiences wending their way through the morass of roadblocks and confusion in seeking approval for the son to become the daughter she had always been meant to be. It describes clearly the troubles that the "system" delivers to maintain the status quo, and the overwhelming drive needed by both the child and the parent in overcoming these burdens and achieving success. This should be required reading for any parent of a transgendered person. The writing style is easy and familiar and will make for a "quick read" one you won't want to put down.

True Selves

Understanding Transsexualism for Family, Friends, Co-Workers and Helping Professionals by Mildred L. Brown & Chloe Ann Rounsley
Jossey-Bass 2003 I.S.B.N. 0787967025

Brown and Rounsley's solidly based introduction to many aspects of living as a transsexual provides general information about the dilemma of feeling trapped in the wrong physical gender, about such a person's development, and about locating a gender therapist. Brown and Rounsley also detail the process of transition between genders, starting with legal and identity changes and proceeding to changing outward modes of self presentation (they include sample "coming-out" letters to employers, co-workers, friends and family members) and dealing with bathroom issues, hormone treatments, surgical options and guidelines for finding social support. First-person accounts from transsexuals augment general readability and put human faces on the issues discussed.

Mildred L. Brown is a clinical sexologist and therapist in private practice in Los Gatos, California. She is also professor of clinical sexology at the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco. Chloe Ann Rounsley is a San Francisco based writer, journalist, and marketing consultant with her own firm, Rounsley Associates. She has done extensive research on the topic of transsexualism.

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