Gender variant children can experience gender dysphoria. When a child with gender dysphoria is supported is his or her gender identity at a young age through a social transition, this may lead to...Show moreGender variant children can experience gender dysphoria. When a child with gender dysphoria is supported is his or her gender identity at a young age through a social transition, this may lead to an overall improvement in well-being. However, some children who went through a social transition at a young age, return to their birth gender when they are older. This means that there is still no firm advice for parents of gender variant children. It is therefore important to inform parents about the positive and negative sides of a social transition. This systematic review synthesizes studies concerning the experiences of transgender parenting in the United States, Canada and Western Europe. The articles were selected through searching in various databases. Out of 449 identified articles, 24 articles remained. Most parents across these 24 studies report interpersonal processes (emotions, concerns) and interactions with relatives and health-care professionals that were not always supportive. Although parents describe mostly negative experiences, positive experiences such as the positive effect that a social transition has on the mental health of the child outweigh the negative experiences. These experiences suggest that parents of gender variant children may rely less on the traditional support networks that do provide support to other parents. A theme that recurs frequently is not knowing if parents are doing the right thing. This appears to be a genuine fear. Not only because there are no established guidelines or advice for raising a gender variant child, but also because detransition is becoming more prevalent. Follow-up studies should address the experiences of parents whose gender variant child detransitioned after a social transition at a young age. Furthermore, it seems that there is still a lot of ignorance within the health care system according gender variance and social transitions. Education on this topic is required.Show less
