This story really upset me very much. If you aren't ready to love and accept your child unconditionally, then you aren't ready to have a child.
Now, I'm not going to pretend that I know the first thing about what it is like to be a transgender person. In an ideal society, the number of transgender people that exist would be much more limited because the only people who would want to change genders would be those who want to change for biological reasons. In our society, though, the main reason for changing genders seems to be that people believe that their biological sex at birth does not match up with their gender identity. Gender is a human construct. It is a sad reflection on our society that we force people to change genders because they cannot fit into the preassigned characteristics that are expected of them from birth. A woman can be assertive and sporty and a man can sensitive and wear makeup. My point is, we don't need gender identities at all, whether transgender or cisgender. However, we were born into a society that has forced it upon us, and there are thankfully many people trying to fight it. Even so, many people continue to support the archaic traditions of masculinity and femininity. Many of these people are the same ones who refuse to accept transgender people into society, which is ironic considering that the transgender community is just trying adhere to the societal norms of these people.
As I said, the ultimate goal is to create a "gender-less" but not "sex-less" society where people do not feel obliged to change themselves to fit other people's predefined boundaries. In the meantime, we must accept transgender individuals for who they are, because they know better than anyone else, including me, what is best for them.
This is a very interesting point, and something I've thought about as well. I think the subject of gender identity is far more nuanced, and something I will never understand. I would love to be enlightened as to what the difference between a butch lesbian and a man born with (or still has( female genitalia is. I suppose in the debate between nature vs. nurture, it is not just one or the other. But it would love to know what makes someone a man or a woman, outside of stereotypical gender roles and genitalia.
