Resilience in Families in Transition: What Happens When a Parent Is Transgender?

• Author: Dimitri Mortelmans,Myrte Dierckx,Joz Motmans,Guy T'Sjoen
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12282
• Published date: 01 July 2017
• Date: 01 July 2017

M D  D M University of Antwerp

J M  G T’S Ghent University Hospital

Resilience in Families in Transition: What Happens

When a Parent Is Transgender?

Objective: To understand the experiences of

both children and parents in families where one

of the parent is transgender.

Background: A focus on the family environment

can be found in research concerning transgen-

der youth, but this focus is lacking in researchon

transgender adults. To our knowledge, research

so far has not shed light on the experiences of

minor children who have witnessed the transi-

tion of their parent.

Method: Using the family resilience framework,

which is a useful theoretical framework for ana-

lyzing family transitions, we conducted in-depth

qualitative interviews with 13 children and 15

parents (8 cisgender and 7 transgender) from 9

families.

Results: Various protective family processes

were distinguished in the achievement of adap-

tive functioning outcomes: family continuity,

family communication, signicant others’ acce-

ptance, and attributing meaning. Hence, the

ndings from this research clearly show that the

gender transition of a parent in itself should not

be problematized.

Conclusion: Through good practices and pro-

tective processes within the family,the transition

of a parent’sgender can be accepted by children.

Department of Sociology, University of Antwerp, Sint-

Jacobstraat 2-4, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium (myrte.dierckx@

uantwerpen.be).

Key Words: Family processes, gender issues, LGBT issues

and relationships, resilience.

Implications: These ndings have implications

for families with a transgender parent as well

as for anyone working with children and their

transgender parents.

Sociological research concerning transgender

people is relatively limited, and the family

environment in which gender transition takes

place has often been overlooked (Hines, 2006;

Whitley, 2013). In particular, the perspective

of children with a transgender parent has been

neglected (Dierckx, Motmans, Mortelmans, &

T’Sjoen, 2015). In the present article we respond

to this gap in the existing research by providing

insight into the experiences of minor children

(under age 18 years) and their parents when

a parent is transitioning. Here, we consider a

gender transition to be a change in social gender

role, with or without medical interventions.

The study took place in Flanders, the northern

region of Belgium, and used a family resilience

theoretical framework.

L R

Transgender people are those whose gender

identity or gender expression does not cor-

respond to the gender they were assigned at

birth. Like sexual minorities (lesbians, gay men,

and bisexual people), transgender people are

a minority who often encounter stigmatization

in heteronormative societies in which sexual

dimorphism (two biological sexes) and binary

gender roles remain the standard (Carrera-

Family Relations 66 (July 2017): 399–411 399

DOI:10.1111/fare.12282