Pediatricians see growing number of cross-gender kids like Coy Mathis
Posted: 03/03/2013 12:01:00 AM MST
Updated: 03/03/2013 07:02:01 PM MST
By Colleen O'Connor
The Denver Post
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_22706559/pediatricians-see-growing-number-crosss-gender-kids-likeExperts say increasing numbers of little kids are showing up in doctors offices insisting they were born into the body of the wrong sex — kids like Coy Mathis, the 6-year-old child banned from using the girls' bathroom at her Fountain school because she is biologically male.
"We're seeing it all across the state," said Dr. Daniel Reirden, a Children's Hospital Colorado physician who said his referrals "went up 200-fold" after he spoke on the issue of children and gender-identity disorder at a recent conference.
Described as "gender-variant," these children typically begin to demonstrate cross-gender behaviors between the ages of 2 and 4. They express a strong desire to live as the opposite gender — clothes, toys, pronouns.
Sometimes, it's typical preschool curiosity. But for other kids, it's the beginning of a life out of the ordinary, challenging societal expectations of what defines their gender.
