Acceptance is important, especially for younger children. Fortunately, parents are now beginning to understand the gravity of the situation and are actively accommodating towards children questioning their gender identity. The trans and queer communities have already been greatly marginalized, which is why children need to have someone with whom they can freely have gender identity discussions. Since pediatricians specialize in working with children, they can listen, understand, and help children better.

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Creating The Space

The American Academy of Pediatrics has released guidelines on taking care of and being inclusive towards the LGBT community. One of the suggestions included states that doctors should wear pride badges or stickers to create a comfortable setting for open dialogue for their young patients. Allowing this can encourage the young ones to talk to their doctor or ask questions that they wouldn’t ask their parents. Other suggestions included using their preferred pronouns and announcing your own.

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Looking for The Right Doctor

For a supportive parent, the utmost priority is that their child is treated with love and respect. This makes it essential for parents to look for an LGBT-friendly pediatrician for their little one. Parents can get in touch with a pediatrician through online local groups or LGBT resource centers. Another option is to speak directly with a pediatrician and ask them how they deal with a gender-diverse patient.

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Not an Easy Task

Dr. Sherer specializes in taking care of families with gender-diverse children and children that identify as trans. She comments on the lack of acceptance and states that people tend to treat being transgender as if it is a disease. The expert goes on to add that trans kids are some of the bravest and humblest people she has met.

In her practice, she has to work with parents struggling with accepting their child’s identity, which can be an emotional subject within the family. She states that it might feel like a loss to the parents as they can no longer hold the same image of their child that they had known. However, Dr. Sherer works with parents and helps them in being more open and supportive towards their children.

Every child deserves to be accepted and feels loved. Parents must ensure that their child has the access to the best.