Gender dysphoria: 'We lost a daughter, but gained a son'

When Harper Robertson opted to change sex and live as a man, his parents were shocked and confused. Now they welcome the transformation. Nick Duerden hears the family's story

Nick Duerden
Tuesday 05 June 2012

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/gender-dysphoria-we-lost-a-daughter-but-gained-a-son-7815071.html

Harper Robertson can vividly recall a conversation he had with his grandmother when he was just seven years old. Though still presenting – as the terminology has it – as a girl, with lustrous blonde hair and a fondness for dresses, his grandmother detected something deeper.

"Do you wish you were a boy?" she asked.

"Of course I do!" Harper responded.

[...]

Harper grew up in San Francisco, the oldest of three children born to 1980s pop star Thomas Dolby and US actress Kathleen Beller. Living in one of the country's more permissive cities certainly lessened his sense of alienation, but only marginally. School, he says, was hell.