A 12-year old girl hasn’t yet hit puberty, but because she’s threatening to hold her breath till she turns blue, her mother and doctors will give her whatever she asks for. In this case, a sex change.

The girl is one of the youngest patients in Australia granted permission to begin a sex swap.

The court was told early intervention was needed because the child was stressed and anxious at the prospect of starting her period and had threatened self-harm.

Sounds like she needs a good spanking, followed by a talk about the birds and the bees, instead of a complete gender reassignment. First of all, the mother is afraid of her own child, and of standing up to her. Second, what ever happened to the notion of tomboy? Most girls who prefer to be boys grow up to marry boys. And what of the ones that don’t? Well, when they are 25 or whatever, they can make the decision to become boys. But not at 12.

A few things that weren’t permitted to me over the years: I could not get laser eye surgery before I was 21, because my eyes had not yet finished developing and changing. I was not permitted tubal ligation under the age of 35, in case I changed my mind (which I have done - and she may do so too). Voting. Marrying Gordie from across the street when I was 4.

Now, I may have whined and stomped my feet, or even held my breath till I turned blue, but these things just weren’t going to happen. Not unless I found an unethical quack to do them. And frankly, who wants their life in the hands of an unethical quack?

This story sounds more like failed parenting as the result of a divorce than any inherent need in the child. She’s crying out for attention, and her mother is indulging her whims. Why not just get her a pony and be done with it? Or better yet: Instead of giving her everything her confused little heart desires, why not give her some discipline and some boundaries?

H/t: Kathy

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 25th, 2008 at 11:00 am and is filed under Australia, Children, Parents. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.