Transparently Speaking

Send us Fan Mail In episode 24, Joy and Diana explore the hesitance behind sharing episode 23 - A (Testosterone) Path Less Talked About , which had been recorded nearly 6 months prior to posting.  Diana identifies her fears and also shares why she ultimately decided to share her experience.  This episode also provides insight into how both Joy and Diana invite their children to openly explore thei...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Diana speaks candidly about Clark’s journey with Testosterone.   Join us to learn about Clark's early experience with gender-affirming hormone therapy;  it is a narrative not often heard, and it's filled with pain and joy.  Listen as Diana witnesses Clark come to know himself fully.  If you’re taking something away from our podcast, we’d appreciate it if...

Send us Fan Mail Diana interviews her 82-year old dad to discuss his experience with his grandkid’s transition. Join us to hear his thoughts and how he approaches acceptance.  This episode was recorded remotely and although sound quality is not optimal, the quality of content is superb. A very special thanks to Abuelo. If you’re taking something away from our podcast, we’d appreciate it if you’d s...

Send us Fan Mail Diana and Joy share how they are experiencing recent anti-trans legislation.  Efforts underway include: 1) bans on affirming healthcare for transgender youth, 2) the Texas governor’s order to investigate gender-affirming care (and parenting) as possible child abuse.  Listen as we voice our vulnerability and concerns. This was recorded prior to courts halting the order in Texas. Th...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we discuss some of the initial questions we were asked when our children transitioned. By reflecting, we look at the reasons and meanings that may be behind the questions. Our hope is to learn, and never to judge.  If you’re taking something away from our podcast, we’d appreciate it if you’d subscribe and/or  take a moment to  provide us a review; the more listene...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Diana and Joy explore the distinction between privacy and secrecy, and the concepts of shame vs. empowerment.  We grapple with the question of our role in our children’s choice to be undisclosed, and we explore whether our focus on safety negatively influenced their sense of self.  Join us to hear more about our perspective on the risk of disclosure, and our belie...

Send us Fan Mail Join Diana and Joy as we explore privacy boundaries to support our children of trans-experience; in this episode we reflect on how we set expectations that siblings are not to talk about or mention anything related to their brother or sister being transgender. We distinguish between talking openly within the family about our transgender children’s transition and require confidenti...

Send us Fan Mail In episode 17 we explore how cosmetics (makeup and nails) have been part of both of our children's journeys. We also explore our own feelings around this aspect of our child's journey, and get curious about how our emotions and experience were impacted by the fact that they are children of trans-experience. If you’re taking something away from our podcast, we’d appreciat...

Send us Fan Mail Diana shares her experience of talking with educators about using non-binary language.  Joy and Diana both express the challenge in learning and building new habits, and the importance of inclusive language expression.   Gendered language is very often habitual; we discuss how it can perpetuate inaccurate assumptions and how conscious use of language is essential for identity vali...

Send us Fan Mail In Episode 15, we explore the role that hair played in our children’s journey of living their true self.  Of note, the definition of “gender expression” is “the external ways in which a person expresses their gender identity to the world, such as through their behavior, emotions, style of dress, hairstyle, makeup, interests, or choice of toys, colors, or activities“ (from https://...

Send us Fan Mail Join Diana and Joy in exploring their experience of loneliness on the journey of supporting their children.  In episode 14, we come to greater self-awareness regarding a sense of space and place, specifically recognizing how essential the experience of community is for us in feeling supported. Episode 14 references the movie Boys Don’t Cry (1999).  This article summarizes the divi...

Send us Fan Mail In episode 13, Diana and Joy share their experience navigating holiday cards after transition.  We share the thoughts and considerations that went into our decisions, and Joy reads an excerpt from her family’s first holiday card following Samantha’s transition.   The discussion naturally extends to family photos on display in the home, and we explore the thoughts and feelings surr...

Send us Fan Mail Joy shares details from Samantha’s most recent Endocrine Clinic visit, in which they seek to understand what is needed to prepare Samantha for feminizing hormone therapy.  The intent is to avoid male secondary sex characteristics (e.g., increased body hair, changes in voice pitch, etc.). Feminizing hormone therapy is also known as gender-affirming hormone therapy.  If you’re takin...

Send us Fan Mail Diana navigates emotional conflict in episode 11.  Diana seeks to protect Dinah yet maintain relationships when her mother (Dinah’s grandma) resists recognizing Dinah’s gender identity. This episode was recorded in two parts.  The first part was recorded a year ago, when Diana first experienced her mother’s resistance to recognizing Dinah’s gender. The second part provides listene...

Send us Fan Mail In our 10th episode, Diana shares her experience with Dinah’s first days of school. We cover tips for communicating a child’s gender identity with parents and students, and we continue to navigate disclosure and privacy considerations for our young children.   Episode 10 references the following resources: "Red: A Crayon’s Story" by Michael Hall "It Feels Good to Be...

Send us Fan Mail In episode 9 we head back in time to explore our concerns and considerations in deciding to launch this podcast.  The recording is unscripted, and in-the-moment as we face our fears and prepare ourselves to place our families and our stories in the public eye.  If you’re taking something away from our podcast, we’d appreciate it if you’d subscribe and/or  take a moment to  provide...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 8 provides additional guidance for those on the journey of engaging with school administrators and teachers during and after transition.  This episode is focused on disclosure, and Diana and Joy’s approach (and how it’s changed) in regard to engaging schools and making requests to support their transgender children.    If you’re taking something away from our podcast, we’d...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 7 provides guidance to consider how to engage your child and the school during the process of transition.  We cover key topics including: name and pronoun changes, bathrooms and facilities, and misgendering.  Here are the resources mentioned in the podcast: Welcoming Schools  https://welcomingschools.org/ Schools in Transition http://assets2.hrc.org/files/assets/resources/...

Send us Fan Mail We began this podcast after supporting our children’s gender transition, which began more than 5 years ago. After we began taping, Diana’s youngest child, Dinah, let her know that he was a boy. We wanted to share the beginning of that journey with you as it unfolded during taping. We share the thoughts, questions, emotions, and the challenges of changing pronouns with you in this...

Send us Fan Mail In our 5th episode, we explore bathing suits as a key step in both our learning journey and in the validation of our children’s identity. We discuss the challenges of balancing affirmation with our concerns for their safety. With hindsight, we share what we wish we had done differently, and that there is no "right answer" to personal decisions.   We highlight some concer...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we examine various view points of the anti-transgender athletic bills that have been introduced throughout the USA. Our episodes are unscripted and are recorded in the moment. Clarifications we would like to highlight include:  “Hormone suppression” is in reference to the suppression of testosterone. When Diana says “Unfairness to female athletes,” she is quoting a...

Send us Fan Mail Join us as we explore the discovery of our children’s identity, and our journey of learning. We discuss our feelings and introduce our decision to support our children’s transition.   If you’re taking something away from our podcast, we’d appreciate it if you’d take a moment to  provide us a review; the more listeners and reviews, the more people we can reach and support.  As alwa...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we explore our journey and feelings as we supported our children in  the first step of medical transition, puberty blockers. We share what we know, and how we decided to take this step that our children deeply desired.  If you’re taking something away from our podcast, we’d appreciate it if you’d subscribe and/or  take a moment to  provide us a review; the more li...

Send us Fan Mail Join us, Diana & Joy, as we discuss who we are and why we wanted to create this podcast. We also explore the language we use for our children and why.  * Of note. We pre-recorded this episode, as referenced by discussing being in the middle of the pandemic. If you’re taking something away from our podcast, we’d appreciate it if you’d take a moment to  provide us a review; the...