These resources aim to support the gender health of children and young adults and support families as you navigate your journey.
To find printed materials of the resources:
- Contact us to speak with a team member. We have copies of some resources in our office.
- Visit or call the BC Children’s Hospital Family Support and Resource Centre. The centre has a variety of health resources that can be borrowed. You can pick them up in Vancouver or have them mailed to your home – return postage included. You can search “transgender” in their library for a full listing of resources.
- Visit or call your local library. The library may have copies of the books on our list or be able to order them from other libraries.
We've mentioned resources throughout the Child & Youth section.
This is a list of all articles, books, videos, DVDs, and online resources that might be helpful as you navigate your journey with your child and family. Resources specific to schools can be found on the Information for Schools page.
- Preamble to the Constitution of the World Health Organization as adopted by the International Health Conference, New York, 19-22 June, 1946; signed on 22 July 1946 by the representatives of 61 States (Official Records of the World Health Organization, no. 2, p. 100) and entered into force on 7 April 1948.
- Hidalgo, M. A., Ehrensaft, D., Tishelman, A. C., Clark, L. F., Garofalo, R., Rosenthal, S. M., Olson, J. (2013). The Gender Affirmative Model: What We Know and What We Aim to Learn. Human Development, 56(5), 285–290. http://doi.org/10.1159/000355235
- Olson, K. R., Durwood, L., DeMeules, M., & McLaughlin, K. A. (2016). Mental Health of Transgender Children Who Are Supported in Their Identities. Pediatrics, peds.2015–3223. http://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2015-3223
- Wallace, R., & Russell, H. (2013). Attachment and Shame in Gender-Nonconforming Children and Their Families: Toward a Theoretical Framework for Evaluating Clinical Interventions. International Journal of Transgenderism, 14(3), 113–126. http://doi.org/10.1080/15532739.2013.824845
- Travers, R., Bauer, G., Pyne, J., Bradley, K., Gale, L., & Papadimitriou, M. (2012). Impacts of strong parental support for trans youth: A report for the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto and Delisle Youth Services. Retrieved from http://transpulseproject.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Impacts-of-Strong-Parental-Support-for-Trans-Youth-vFINAL.pdf
- Ehrensaft, D. (2014). Found in Transition: Our Littlest Transgender People. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 50(4), 571–592. http://doi.org/10.1080/00107530.2014.942591
- Cohen-Kettenis, P. T., & Goozen, S. H. M. van. (1998). Pubertal delay as an aid in diagnosis and treatment of a transsexual adolescent. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 7(4), 246–248. http://doi.org/10.1007/s007870050073
- de Vries, A. L. C. de, McGuire, J. K., Steensma, T. D., Wagenaar, E. C. F., Doreleijers, T. A. H., & Cohen-Kettenis, P. T. (2014). Young adult psychological outcome after puberty suppression and gender reassignment. Pediatrics, 134(4), 696–704. http://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2013-2958
- Khatchadourian, K., Amed, S., & Metzger, D. L. (2014). Clinical management of youth with gender dysphoria in vancouver. The Journal of Pediatrics, 164(4), 906–911. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2013.10.068
These books have been selected to help parents and families navigate through the literature available to support themselves, as well as their children, youth, and young adults.
Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family.New York, NY: Random House. Nutt, A. E. (2015).
My Daughter He: Transitioning With Our Transgender Children. Rockport, MA: Stone Circle Press. Waldron, C. (2014).
Raising My Rainbow: Adventures in Raising a Fabulous, Gender Creative Son. New York, NY: Broadway Books. Duron, L., Harris, N. P., & Burtka, D. (2013).
Raising Ryland: Our Story of Parenting a Transgender Child with No Strings Attached. New York. NY: William Morrow Paperbacks. Whittington, H. (2016).
- The Transgender Child: A Handbook for Families and Professionals. San Francisco, CA: Cleis Press. Brill, S. A., & Pepper, R. (2008).
The Gender Creative Child: Pathways for Nurturing and Supporting Children Who Live Outside Gender Boxes. New York, NY: The Experiment. Ehrensaft, D. (2016).
Gender Born, Gender Made: Raising Healthy Gender-Nonconforming Children (3rd Revised ed. edition). New York: The Experiment. Ehrensaft, D., & Menvielle, E. (2011).
Trans Bodies, Trans Selves: A Resource for the Transgender Community. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Erickson-Schroth, L. (Ed.). (2014).
Gender Neutral Parenting: Raising kids with the freedom to be themselves. Verity Press. Lucas-Stannard, P. (2013).
Transitions of the Heart: Stories of Love, Struggle and Acceptance by Mothers of Transgender and Gender Variant Children. Berkeley, Calif: Cleis Press. Pepper, R. (Ed.). (2012).
- Helping Your Transgender Teen: A Guide for Parents. New Haven: Genderwise Press. Krieger, I. (2011).
The Transgender Teen - A Handbook for Parents and Professionals Supporting Transgender and Non-Binary Teens. Brill, Stephanie and Kenney, Lisa. Cleis Press, 2016.
- 10,000 Dresses. Marcus Ewert (Seven Stories).
- The Adventures of Tulip, Birthday Wish Fairy. S. Bear Bergman (Flamingo Rampant).
- All I Want to Be is Me. Phyllis Rothblatt (Self Published).
- Are You a Boy or a Girl. Karleen Jiminez (Green Dragon).
- Backwards Day. S. Bear Bergman (Flamingo Rampant).
- Be Who You Are. Jennifer Carr (Author House).
- Be Yourself (Swirsky).
The Boy and the Bindi (Shraya).
Dress (Baldacchino).
A Fairy Tale with a Message. Brett Axe (East Waterfront Press).
- Goblinheart. Brett Axel (East Waterfront Press).
- I Am Jazz (Herthel)
- Introducing Teddy (Walton).
- Jacob’s New Dress (Hoffman).
- Jesse’s Dream Skirt. Bruce Mack. (Lollipop Power).
- Lilly Loves Beards. Carol Thompson Gardner (Tellwell Talent).
Morris Mickelwhite and the Tangerine (Baldacchino).
My Princess Boy. Cheryl Kilodouis (Aladdin/Simon Schuster).
One of a Kind, Like Me (Mayeno).
The Princess Knight. Cornelia Funke (Scholastic/Chicken House).
- Rough Tough Charley. Verla Kay (Tricycle Press).
- Sex is a Funny Word (Silverberg).
- Sparkle Boy (Newman).
- When Kathy is Keith. Wallace Wong (Xlibris).
- The Boy in the Dress (Williams).
- From Alice to Zen and Everything in Between (Atkinson).
- George (Gino).
Gracefully Grayson (Polinsky).
Helping Your Transgender Teen (Krieger).
If You Believe in Mermaids, Don’t Tell (Phillips).
- Lizard Radio (Schmatz).
The Pants Project (Clarke).
Riding Freedom (Muñoz).
Wandering Son Book 1 and 2 (Takako).
- a+e 4ever. Ilike Merey.
- A Circus Mirror Day. Corin Ash.
- Almost Perfect (Katcher).
- The Art of Being Normal (Williamson).
- Beautiful Music for Ugly Children. Kirstin Cronn-Mills.
- Beauty Queens. Libba Bray.
- Being Emily. Rachel Gold.
- Brooklyn, Burning. Steve Brezenoff.
- Choir Boy. Charlie Anders.
- Circle of Change. Laney Cairo.
- Debbie Harry Sings in French. Meagan Brothers.
- Every Day. David Levithan.
- Far from Xanadu. Julie Anne Peters .
- f2M: The Boy Within. Hazel Edwards and Ryan Kennedy.
- First Spring Grass Fire. Rae Spoon.
- Freakboy. Kristin Elizabeth Clark.
- Happy Families. Tanita S. Davis.
- I Know Very Well How I Got My Name. Elliot DeLine.
- I am J. Cris Beam.
- If I Was Your Girl (Russo).
- In Her Skin. Trina Sotira.
- Jumpstart the World. Catherine Ryan Hyde . .
- Kicked Out (Lowrey).
- The Legend of Beka Cooper Series: Terrier, Bloodhound and Mastiff (Pierce).
- London Reign (Britt).
- Luna (Peters).
- Nina Here nor There (Krieger).
- My New Gender Workbook (Bornstein).
- One in Every Crowd (Coyote).
- Parrotfish (Wittlinger).
- The Princess: Gals ’n’ Pals (Wind).
- Refuse (DeLine).
- Revolutionary Voices: A Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology (Sonnie).
- Roving Pack (Lowrey).
- The Sweet In-Between: A Novel (Reynolds).
- Symptoms of Being Human (Gavin).
- The Tragedy of Miss Geneva Flowers (Babcock).
- Trans Bodies, Trans Selves (Erickson-Schroth).
- Wandering Son: Book One & Book Two (Takako).
- Full Story: Gender Identity (Short Documentary) – 16×9 On Global
- How to Be a Girl – Marlo Mack podcast
- Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word – Laverne Cox, MTV
- That’s Good Enough – Debi Jackson, Huffpost
- Trans Youth: Our Stories, Our TruthTruth Videos – Trans Law Centre – the TRUTH website, a collaboration between Transgender Law Center and GSA Network
- Transgender: You’re Part of the Story – Nicole Maynes TED talk
- Dads for Transgender Equality - Youtube video published by Human Rights Campaign
- Moms for Transgender Equality - Youtube video published by Human Rights Campaign
- Diagnosing Difference. Ohelian, Annalise. Floating Ophelia Productions, San Francisco, USA (2009)
- I’m Just Anneke. Skurnik, Jonathan. New Day Films, Newburgh, NY, USA (2010)
- Rural Transcapes. Bohigian, Amy. Watershed Productions, Nelson, BC (2012)
- She’s a Boy I Knew. Haworth, Gwen. Shapeshifter Films, Vancouver, BC (2007)
- Standards of Care for the Health of Transsexual, Transgender, and Gender-Nonconforming People, Version 7. World Professional Association for Transgender Health. Retrieved from WPATH, June 2018. Coleman, E., Bockting, W., Botzer, M., Cohen-Kettenis, P., DeCuypere, G., Feldman, J., Zucker, K. (2012, August 1)
- Gender Creative Kids – Resources for gender creative kids and their families, schools and communities
- How to know if your child is transgender, from an expert – Vox
- Gender Identity - published in 2018 by the Canadian Pediatrics Society that supports families in their journey in exploring gender development and identify
- Families in Transition – A resource guide for parents of trans youth – Central Toronto Youth Services
- Family Education Information: Supportive Families, Healthy Children – Family Acceptance Project
- Parenting and Family Resources – Gender Spectrum
- Impacts of Strong Parental Support for Trans Youth – TransPulse
- Our Trans Loved Ones: Questions and Answers for Parents, Families, and Friends of People Who are Transgender and Gender Expansive – PFLAG, 2015
- Family Acceptance Project – Publications and training, resource and family education materials available for download from San Francisco State University
- Trans Rights BC – Aims to “disseminate human rights information that is accurate, accessible, and relevant to the safety and well-being of trans and gender-diverse individuals and their supportive allies across British Columbia.” Produced by the Catherine White Holman Centre and the VCH Transgender Health Information Program and reviewed by Barbara Findlay, QC.
