How much pain must these parents worked through to get to this point of treatment?

Their son was two the first time he put on a dress and refused to take it off.  8 hellacious sounding years followed while they tried to figure out why their little boy wanted dresses.  I was really struck by the description of their child's temper, and how angry and frustrated she could get.  Another reason to listen to the story is that the written transcript leaves out the most horrible moment:  when their 10 year old child walked into the kitchen, grabbed a knife, and told her mother and sister she hated being in the world and wanted to kill herself.  The mother had to hold her down and take the knife away.  

How much must it have hurt to see their child in this much pain?  I hurt just thinking about it.  They must have doubted their parenting, to have such an angry child.  And no matter how accepting they are now, it must have been painful to realize their boy was basically never there; painful to let go of the expectations and dreams, especially for the dad.  But eventually, they found a doctor who explained gender identification disorder, and they just stopped fighting it.  They completely accepted their child for who she is, and loved her through and through.

I was impressed throughout the interview how the parents never once slipped up and said "he."  Even when talking about the years when they thought their child was a boy, they never used the male pronoun.  They never used the name they gave her, only the name she chose.  "She" just slipped out of their mouths as naturally as breathing.

The transformation in their daughter's temperment was just stunning.  The father said she became the happiest kid in the world, overnight, the day she started living as a girl.  To me, that says something intensely profound about what makes us who we are, that a child that young can be so intensely affected by gender.  

The main part of the piece was a discussion about the controversial treatment to delay puberty, which these parents have chosen to pursue for their daughter.  Delaying puberty is different from taking hormones to develop as the opposite sex, and supporters argue this is a way to give young children and pre-teens valuable time to sort out if they want to pursue further, irreversible treatment.  The parents' older daughter says her sister gets more uncomfortable in her own body every day, as puberty sets in and she starts growing hair, for example.  How hard to hate what your body is doing in such fundamental way.  And again, how painful for a parent to watch your child go through that!

For me, these parents truly embody the iconic image of parental love, as much as the right wing nuts would choke to hear it.  They are truly selfless--they sacrificed any dreams they had for a son, to give their daughter happiness and peace and comfort within her own existence.  I've been thinking long and hard about whether I could do the same since I heard the story, and I even discussed it with DH over dinner.  I think it all hinges on how miserable their child was.  I couldn't bear to see that, and to cause it to continue, if I could do something to stop it.  But I have a certain level of discomfort, too.  Surely, these parents are still scared about repercussions for their daughter from small minded people.  This could be a very difficult road to travel; who honestly wants that for their child?  

I know this story will stick with me for a LONG time, and that it will really make me think about what it means to love my children.  It was really such a powerful piece, I really think you should all listen to it.