cisgender – that he was a boy and had been born male. A few months before Charlie came into our office, he handed a note to his mother with four simple words, “I am a boy.” Up until that point Charlie had been living in the world as female – the sex he was assigned at birth – though that was not how he felt inside.
Charlie was suffering from severe gender dysphoria – a sense of distress someone feels when their gender identity doesn’t match up with their assigned gender.I am a pediatrician and adolescent medicine specialist who has been caring for transgender youth for over a decade using what is called a gender-affirmative approach.