I am the proud parent of three children, including an 18-year-old transgender daughter. Rebekah is a pastor’s kid who sings a capella, sits on her school’s Board of Education, and is headed to an Ivy League college in the fall. She contributes positively to our family, her friends, her school, and the wider community.

She is able to do all of those things because of the love and support she’s received over the past 10 years since she socially transitioned. That support eventually included access to evidence-based, medically-necessary gender affirming healthcare provided by an interdisciplinary team of top-notch medical providers in collaboration with Rebekah, myself, and her father. Access to that care has allowed Rebekah not just to survive, but to thrive.