Canadians raising gender-free baby

Delli i dont think it is sick to keep it from other people but to not even let the child know! that is definitely weird!

i linked one on my FB page that said they werent going to be telling Storm either...

i cant find the link... but she did say that they were going to let the baby decide... and i supposed if you are raising them genderless then there wouldnt be any cooing "oh what a gorgeous little boy/girl mummy has".

Delli wrote: Sheza wrote: Idiots, thats sick! Poor kid. Oh, "sick" seems to be an extreme sort of word to use in these circumstances. Can I ask why you feel that way? I can understand people saying it's "silly" or even "stupid" as it doesn't conform to their own ideas regarding child rearing but "sick"' to me seems to indicate the thought that this is a form of child abuse. Do you think it is abuse to keep a child's gender a secret from other people?

Where did I say it was child abuse? I just think its a very weird and sick thing to do, hiding a gender? why? So thats my opinion, you dont have to like it.

ahhhhh see i made my comments based on the idea they werent going to tell storm. If they arent telling the lady down the road then she can't say "Here little boy, play with the tractors with the other boys" or something which i understand even though taking it to massive extremes.

Though i wonder how many parents will want him/her to come vist...

I read that not even the grandparent know what gender Storm is , which I think is pretty sad...I cant imagine not telling any of my children's grandparents whether they are boys or girls.

and there is a difference between not telling someone what gender your baby is and keeping it a secret.

for eg you go to the supermarket with your newborn.....generally speaking you dont go announcing "this is a boy/girl" but if someone asks "ooh what an adorable baby, little boy or girl?"

but yeah I think it is alittle weird to keep your child's gender a secret especally from family and close friends

1st off how someone words an open opinion is up to them.


I think this is a bit extreme, gender stereotyping isnt something new to society, I actually think its decreased in the passed decade. but that could just be becoz i myself dont care what someone else chooses to do about their own gender/sexuality.

being a parent doesnt mean you get to choose that your boy is to dress in pretty dresses that should be intirely up to the child, what 4mth old picks out there own wardrobe? to be genderfree and considerate of that childs feelings as they get older they should be putting the child in clothing that is completely unisex.
i do not believe an 18mth olds would pick out a dress in a store becoz he wanted to wear it. children at that age are not even aware of the clothes they wear.

but I can see this being the next thing when it comes to parents wanting to be natural. but even tribes in remote villages who are the real natural parents of the world stereotype a childs gender.

Edited by rorylex

I might be missing the point here but I really don't understand why its such a problem to be referred to as either a boy or a girl. I'm all for encouraging your child to be who they want to be, and my DD loves her Thomas train set and Bob the Builder books/DVDs just as much as ballet and barbies, but I don't think there is anything wrong with being one or the other. Or other people relating to the child as either being a boy or a girl.

I also read the whole article and I felt like the parents were using their other kids as an experiment too. This is what they said about the oldest boy who is 5:


"Jazz — soft-spoken, with a slight frame and curious brown eyes — keeps his hair long, preferring to wear it in three braids, two in the front and one in the back, even though both his parents have close-cropped hair. His favourite colour is pink, although his parents don’t own a piece of pink clothing between them. He loves to paint his fingernails and wears a sparkly pink stud in one ear, despite the fact his parents wear no nail polish or jewelry.

Jazz was old enough for school last September, but chose to stay home. “When we would go and visit programs, people — children and adults — would immediately react with Jazz over his gender,” says Witterick, adding the conversation would gravitate to his choice of pink or his hairstyle.

That’s mostly why he doesn’t want to go to school. When asked if it upsets him, he nods, but doesn’t say more."

I read this and thought poor kid. These parents are setting this kid up to stand out from the crowd from the word go. If he ever does go to school he will be the target of a huge amount of bullying.