XVI Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association Symposium
17 - 21 August 1999, London

Reflections on "Transsexualism and Sex Reassignment" 1969 -1999

Children of Transsexual Parents – A Case Illustration

Di Ceglie, Domenico Consultation Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist, Adolescent Department, Tavistock Clinic, and Director, Gender Identity Development Unit, Portman Clinic. Honorary Senior Lecturer, Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, London, UK

Wren, Berndadette Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Gender Identity Development Unit, Portman Clinic, UK

The paper describes the clinical work with a child of a transsexual parent. The child, a girl of 8 was referred to the Gender Identity Development Service at the Portman Clinic, London, by the Court following the father’s request to the Court to regain access to the daughter after a lack of contact for 2 years, during which her father had undergone gender reassignment. At the time of the referral the child was unaware of the father’s transition. The work, still in progress, has involved meetings with the mother and the child, with the transsexual parent separately, and liaison with the Court Welfare Officer and the legal system. The paper describes the stages of work and discusses the complexity of working at the boundary between clinical work and the legal system, which has remained involved throughout the length of our work. In this case profound splitting processes, with intense hostility and recriminations, are present in the relationship between the parents, with powerful effects on the child. As some of the features are suggestive of ‘parental alienation syndrome’, ethical issues regarding access are discussed.

The paper is based on a psycho-dynamic developmental framework and a systemic approach to working imaginatively with individuals, families and wider networks.

It also provides a clinical illustration of the principles of management, as described by D. Di Ceglie (1998).
  

Reference:
Di Ceglie, D. (ed.) with David Freedman (1998) ‘A Stranger in My Own Body—Atypical Gender Identity Development and Mental Health’ London: Karnac Books