Imagine if you have a pre-teen daughter who one day tells you she wants to be a boy. How do you respond to a comment this controversial? Elle Wright had to face the reality that her 8-year-old daughter Ruby was not comfortable with her gender and seriously meant it when she told her one day that she wanted to be a boy.
Elle remembers the day that her daughter requested a sex change and being placed in a strange predicament.
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She wrote in a personal piece for Dailylife.com that Ruby never showed interest in her doll houses growing up and opted for toy cars and trucks by the age of two. She hated wearing dresses and only shopped in the boy's section at clothing stores.
Her only friends were boys and had masculine ways. She preferred the nickname they gave her, "Jack Black", over her actual name. As a mother, this was something difficult for Elle to accept, but she supported Ruby despite receiving criticism from other moms. When Ruby was six, the principal at her school told Elle that he didn't think the child was going through a tomboy phase but instead had possible gender-identity issues.
Elle says she did research on the topic and knows that when puberty hits that this may become a bigger problem for her daughter. Issues such as depression may affect the child if he or she does not feel comfortable in her biological body. Even though there is still time to go for Ruby, Elle says she will be behind her daughter no matter what her decision in life may be.
It's heartbreaking to know that this mother is going through this alone, as most moms would not be as understanding. I think it's great that she lets Ruby behave however she pleases because this is this is the only way she'll truly discover herself. If she really wants to be a boy, perhaps she can have a sex change when she is older and able to understand the concept better. But for now it's best that the mom doesn't put pressure on her to be someone she is not. Ruby may thank her one day for it, no matter what her decision may be.
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