The Fate of TG/CD Boys in Foster Care

[Lady Katherine]

Does anyone have knowledge of how a boy who crossdresses is handled in a foster care system? I believe if the foster parent or adoptive parent would support the dressing by the boy the system might remove him from the house and put him in a setting that forbade it.

That, of course, would be harmful to the boy's future. But, I'm afraid that might happen.

There is plenty of discussion over whether children should be placed with gay parents; most experts think that gay parents may adopt. That is a different question.

This may not be the place to ask this question. If that is the case, I am sorry.

Anyway. I would be interested in any knowledge or experiences anyone has. Thank you.

[Sharon]

I did a search and came up with the following link, and there are many others also:

http://www.safeschoolscoalition.org/RG-homeless.html

[Lady Katherine]

Sharon: TY for that link. It's just what I wanted. My searching kept coming up with the gay parent issue. Even though we know such children should be treated with understanding, I'm still fearful that various state and local child welfare workers will face such cases by placing the kids in a forbidding atmosphere.

[JulieC]

Sharon: TY for that link. It's just what I wanted. My searching kept coming up with the gay parent issue. Even though we know such children should be treated with understanding, I'm still fearful that various state and local child welfare workers will face such cases by placing the kids in a forbidding atmosphere.

You would be right to be fearful. If a foster parent were to buy a young male a dress, heels, etc for him to wear and child welfare were to find out? I'd virtually guarantee he'd be out of that house that very day. I know of one foster parent who had three foster children. All three were removed the day the foster care system were (fallaciously) told that one of the parents had purchased leopard print panties for one of the children, a teenage girl. Can you imagine their shock if a foster parent bought pantyhose for a young boy?

I've seen it time and time and time again; child protective services, the foster system, etc. in the U.S. presume guilt LONG before they presume innocence. I've found it safe to assume the worst from those organizations and allow myself to be pleasantly surprised when they behave well. So far, I've not been pleasantly surprised.

There's a reason there's so many homeless among the TG community.

[Eugenie]

Perhaps a naive question...

If the foster parents discover their "adopted" child is a transgender person, couldn't they consult some consultant on gender identity.

Actually, when your own child shows tendencies towards x-dressing nobody will interfeere unless there would be a suspicion of child abuse...

But I admit that I don't know much about foster parents rights and dutties under the US law...

I'd be interested to get some information.

Thanks.

Eugenie