A 29-year-old mother has told of the bullying her 11-year-old transgender son has experienced since he spoke about wanting to be a boy.
Martha from Grimsby, Lincolnshire, said her son was even told by cruel bullies to ‘kill himself,’ causing her child to self-harm.
She turned to mental health experts who, she said, were not very helpful during her son’s time of need.
In an interview with Grimsby Live, Martha said her son was 8 when he started questioning his gender.
“I’m not sure they were mentally ready to be a woman,” she said. “After deciding that they wanted to change, I approached local medical organisations asking for treatment to help regulate their periods and I was refused because my child isn’t sexually active.
“I understood that, but no further help was offered, not even a conversation about what he was going through. It just seems a bit harsh considering the situation my son is in.”
However, many of her son’s friends do not want to accept his decision, which has a huge impact on his mental health.
“Because of what was happening, he started self harming at the age of nine and has been now for 18 months. The first I ever knew of it was when I discovered bloody tissues in their bed side drawer,” Martha expressed.
“I’ve tried to get help, but I just feel like I’m going around in circles with everyone at this point.
“He even said to me that he feels like nobody will talk to him unless he kills himself.”
Martha’s family are also not very supportive and many refuse to call her son by his name.
“Personally, my mental health is awful with everything that’s going on. I’m just so worried of waking up to find my child dead in their bedroom,” she said.
“The hardest part for me in all of this though was losing the child I raised and gaining a new person.
“I love them still, but there was somewhat of a grieving process involved in losing them and I did shed a few tears.
“However, I fully support their decision and I have stuck by him ever since.”
“My biggest concern now is getting my son the help he needs. Certain things he does are worrying and a nine year old self harming is a massive concern,” Martha said.
“I just hope I can get him the mental support he needs and get him referred to GIDS (Gender Identity Development Service) to help him in his journey of transition.”
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