I thought I heard it all.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/identical-twin-teenage-boys-story-path-a-girl-article-1.991407


A Maine family has come forward with the story of their 14-year-old transgender daughter in the hope it can help transgender youth across the country.

Twins Nicole and Jonas Maines seem to be typical teenagers.

Jonas likes video games, tae kwon do and watching TV.

Nicole has long brown hair, likes dresses and sparkly shoes, and recently revealed her first crush on a boy she met while at summer camp.

But Nicole, whose story was profiled in the Boston Globe this week, hasn't always been a girl. She was born a boy, Wyatt, an identical twin to her brother.

The siblings and their parents, Wayne and Kelly, took the Globe through their journey of Nicole transitioning to life as a girl in a rare look into a new wave of treatment of transgender people. Doctors hope that addressing the issue early can help people who identify with the opposite gender before they succumb to the issues transgender people often face, including depression and homelessness.

When it became clear to the Maines that Wyatt was struggling with his gender identity, they took him to a clinic that specializes in treating younger people who identify themselves as transgender. He started psychological therapy at age 9.

When he was 11, his parents agreed to let him start hormone therapy so that Wyatt could become the person he always identified himself as - Nicole.

'I wasn't always on board,” Nicole's father, Wayne Maines, told the newspaper. “Kelly and I were not on the same page. My question was: What is this doctor doing? It scared me. I was grieving. I was losing my son.'

Through the years, Nicole went through therapy, received injections to halt development as a boy, and has identified as a girl in school and at home.

The hormone therapy is reversible.

When she is 18, she will be able to receive gender reassignment surgery.

'In my experience, the patients just blossom physically and mentally when they get the hormones of the gender they affirm,” her doctor told the Globe. 'It's quite amazing. I feel good about Nicole and who she is and where she's going.''

Not everything has been so easy.

Her parents, along with the ACLU, had to file a lawsuit against the twins' school and move to a new town to give Nicole a better chance to be accepted.

Now, she's an activist fighting for laws to allow transgender people to use what they feel is the appropriate public restroom.

The Maines told ABCNews.com that they decided to tell their story in hopes they could help others.

'We sat down with our kids at the breakfast table when they were 9 and talked about fear, hate, evil and freedom of speech before sending them to school,' Wayne Maines wrote.

'I was very angry and sad to have to talk to our small children in this manner,' he said. 'We also told them to keep their heads up, be proud and take care of each other and their friends. I am very proud of them both because they have not forgotten that lesson and they continue to help others whenever it is safe to do so.'

Re: I thought I heard it all.

i'm sorry but i don't understand your '' ... i think it's wonderful that the family is so accepting!

Re: I thought I heard it all.

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Posted by AwaitingAugust

i'm sorry but i don't understand your '' ... i think it's wonderful that the family is so accepting!

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Thank you for saying this first.... They did the right thing, they took all the correct precautions and even made sure that all treatment were not permanent. I may not agree with this but it's much easier to go through this type of change while you are younger. I have friends who have gone through all the treatments and it's extremely hard on the adult body and mind.

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i always think im the oddball out..... im so super understanding!!! If my child was going through this i wouldve acted in the same manner as the parents... i mean the father says it wasnt easy and god i definitely dont think it would be easy but for me it would be the right thing to do because you always want the best for your kids.

I hate hearing these stories about children who are scared to 'come out' to their parents. Imagine how scary that is to go through alone. I'd want to be there as much as i could for my child.

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I guess I'm the oddball here thinking 9 year olds shouldn't be seeing psychotherapists then taking hormone therapy at age 11.
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omgggggg

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I personally feel like 9 is a bit too young for all this.

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I actually think it's pretty wonderful of the parents as well. They not only noticed their child having issues, but they were proactive about it and helped their child with professional help and were supportive with her journey.

The rates of suicide and depression etc in transgendered and gay teens is very high, and I am sure if more children grew up in a family and society of support and just OPENNESS to anything straying from the 'norm', the statistics would be much lower.

I think this kid has a better chance at self acceptance and love than many other transgendered kids who will live most of their lives in fear and shame

edited for missing words

Re: I thought I heard it all.

i can see both sides of this. 9 is really young to make such a big decision. what if he was just going through a phase and they pumped him with hormones at a time in his life when he his still growing and developing. i would be fine with the parents giving him therapy and letting him dress how he wants and refer to himself however he wants, i just think he was way too young for hormones. god forbid he should feel differently later on? what are all those hormones doing to his growth and development? do we even know how safe they are for adults, let alone children? I could see where there would be shock, these parents are allowing a young child to make a life altering decision and filling him with unnecessary drugs. Its a controverisal thing to do.

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Posted by SoonToBeMrsCali

I guess I'm the oddball here thinking 9 year olds shouldn't be seeing psychotherapists then taking hormone therapy at age 11.
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I'm mixed. Do they really know what they want at the age of 11? I have a female friend that always dated girls and now she is married to a guy and has 2 beautiful kids. When I asked her what changed, she says I guess I wasn't sure of what I wanted.

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Posted by SoonToBeMrsCali

I guess I'm the oddball here thinking 9 year olds shouldn't be seeing psychotherapists then taking hormone therapy at age 11.
.

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That little girl didn't choose to be a girl - she just was born that way (but in the wrong body) - and that's why she needs to have the hormone therapy and whatnot.

if it were your child, wouldn't you want them to be 100% happy and accepted?

Re: I thought I heard it all.

This is going to get interesting.

Re: I thought I heard it all.

It does say in the article that hormones are reversible. And if the hormones are testosterone or estrogen (depending which sex you are trying to be), I believe they wear off pretty soon after you stop taking them. I think transgendered men and women have to take hormones indefinitely because their effect isn't permanent. We all have estrogen and testosterone in our body, naturally.

And yes, you can argue that 9 is young but I personally believe it's not what they 'want' as in 'i WANT to be a woman, I WANT to be a man' but it is trying to be what they believe they ARE already, inside. So it's not a question really of 'do children know what they want at that age'

People who are transgendered identify very young that they are male or female and puberty is a very traumatizing time for them. Maybe that's why they are doing this at the age of 9?

It is a very controversial topic

eta; They started the psychological therapy at age 9 and agreed to let her start hormone therapy at age 11. So I think that was responsible of the parents...it's not like they immediately pumped her with hormones. They tried out the psychological therapy and then hopefully, with the help of professionals, all came to the conclusion that the hormones were the next step. The dad admits how difficult it was and I think it was selfless of them to make sure their child was happy.

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as for those of you saying that the child might not know what they want at this age, i agree that there is some chance that it could happen, but i also think that it's pretty common for children to know.

i foudn this blog way-back-when and i thought it was cute ... it's got old pictures of children, all of which are gay or transgender now along with their stories: Born This Way Blog

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Posted by AwaitingAugust

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Posted by SoonToBeMrsCali

I guess I'm the oddball here thinking 9 year olds shouldn't be seeing psychotherapists then taking hormone therapy at age 11.
.

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That little girl didn't choose to be a girl - she just was born that way (but in the wrong body) - and that's why she needs to have the hormone therapy and whatnot.

if it were your child, wouldn't you want them to be 100% happy and accepted?

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To me it's not about the fact that the little boy wanted to be a girl because that's another issue. To me it's psychotherapy then hormones. But I can see how really open minded parents would consider it. I don't know the dialogue that happened before because they don't mention it or what this child was doing.

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Posted by barbtony

This is going to get interesting.

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