Mom, Dad, or Somewhere In Between: Relational Ambiguity between Children and Transgender Parents

• In Event: 153 - Section on Children and Youth Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 02. Family Structure and Transitions

Abstract

While children’s adjustment to family transitions such as divorce and remarriage has received considerable attention from family scholars, we have yet to explore how children experience a transgender parent’s gender transition. Drawing from in-depth interviews with children of trans people, I explore the importance of gender, roles, and boundaries in how the parent-child relationship changes post-transition. When families undergo a gender transitions, they do not have social scripts to follow- or at least they must modify common scripts for their own purposes. The resulting experience is one of ambiguity, increasing stress and insecurity for children during and after a parent's transition.

Author

• Jaclyn Ann Tabor, Indiana University