Ms Catherine Cross:

When my son came to us and said he was transgender, it came as a major shock. We did not expect it. It was like something that happened on "Oprah", not to people like me. I though my son had a problem with his mental health because he was down and withdrawn, a case of depression. Since we as a family have accepted his gender, it has made a difference in his demeanour. He is confident and doing well at school. Imagine if the State could recognise and value him, that would make a difference to the career choices he makes. If one does not feel valued, one will not do well. The choices one makes between the ages of 16 and 18 years have consequences for the rest of one's life and one's name and gender go on documents that follow one for the rest of one's life. Does one really want to have to explain continuously why one looks like a man and has a man's name, but the gender on documents states one is female. I would like the issue of gender to be in the past for my son.

As a family we would like to forget about the gender issue and get on with life. Should he have to wait until he is 18 years and will he have documents with a gender that will continue to follow him? The years between 16 and 18 years are an important part of anybody's life, but it is a really important stage of the life of a transgender individual.