Family reveals gender of their 17-year-old non-binary child

A mom of three (soon to be four) threw a party to announce the gender of her 17-year-old son Gray. Born female, Gray feels like a non-binary boy. We find out about the event through a photoshoot featured on the Parents website.

Future parents and those around them often tend to announce the sex of their child by saying “It's a girl !" or "It's a boy !”. Sometimes they do it with these same phrases, sometimes with ostentatious parties, during which a color will reveal the sex of the baby, or just match its gender. Pink for girls, blue for boys. Very original, isn't it? Only, in today's society and for hundreds of years, there are girls who don't feel pink, and boys who don't feel blue. An ultrasound technically has the power to find out the sex of an infant, but it doesn't tell the whole story.

Gray Schoolcraft, a teenager from Akron, Ohio, was the center of attention at a party hosted by her mom, Love Gwaltney, to celebrate her child’s gender reveal at the age of 17. Love, when she was pregnant, thought she was going to give birth to a baby girl named McKenzie. She is actually the mother of a young non-binary boy.

An announcement that the 35-year-old took extremely well, given the superb party she's planned, in the colors of the non-binary flag on the balloons and the cake.




Credit: Sarah McBride Photography

They were wrong

The mom decided to speak out about the mistake she made of having gendered her child when she was born in a beautiful message accompanied by beautiful photos of the event, taken by photographer Sarah McBride. “We wanted to announce that we made a mistake 17 years ago by telling the world that we were going to have a baby girl (…) So we would like to introduce our SON: Gray. He looks like all the other 17 year old geeks, he doesn't get up early enough to play, he hates showering and eats too much junk. We'll be referring to Gray with the pronouns he / him from now on, but he told us to tell you that he doesn't mind if you use they / them either.”.




Credit: Sarah McBride Photography

A strong and understanding statement that supports the idea that there are parents willing to accept a child's non-binarity and gender reassignment, even if it doesn't have to be surgical.

What the company forms

Grey's mom was keen to speak out about the way society treats the gender of a person even before he comes to earth. “We are so excited to choose clothes and nursery decorations based on the gender of our babies. We have parties and we choose names. We assign adjectives (like strength or beauty) based on what our child has between their legs"She wrote before adding:"That child you called a girl doesn't really feel like a girl. Sometimes that kid dissociates what he is from the body he has, and that can lead to body dysphoria or self esteem issues, and that's all it can give (to your knowledge ). Other times that kid grows up feeling like a whole different person, and if you're really lucky they'll open up and tell you the truth, even though it can be scary or intimidating.”.

Indeed, a parent should not choose the gender of his child for him. This may seem ridiculous to some, because in the logic of things you have to know what to buy him as clothes or as toys. All of these things can be more or less neutral, until the child makes a choice, even if it is only between two colors. Finally, sex and gender are two completely different things.

Love Gwaltney received many positive messages from the trans community, to which she responded that she was their new mom. Gray is accepted by his family, and everyone now knows who he is.