Tammy Plunkett’s first love is writing – she lives and breathes the words on the page. When she left her career as a registered nurse to stay home and raise her four children, she realized that there was only so much Sesame Street she could handle, so she decided to follow her passion and began writing. She started with fiction pieces, but when she became a certified professional life coach and writing coach she decided to dive into the non-fiction realm. When her eleven year old child told her he identified as transgender, Tammy pivoted and started focusing on helping parents of transgender kids through mentoring, blogging, and writing articles such as her well-read one for Today’s Parent.

Tammy’s story provides an incredible amount of insight with respect to understanding gender in general, as well as what it means to be transgender. She takes you through the real and raw emotion she felt when her son first revealed he was trans, the stages of grief she went through, and the reactions of family, the school system and her community through the whole process. Tammy is now an advocate, helping parents of transgender children understand transgender identity and how they can best support their child.

In this episode:

1. The grieving process (Intro).
2. Facing the fear (9:08 ).
3. Gender vs. sexuality (13:16 ).
4. The importance of representation (17:07 ).
5. Bullying and school responsibility (19:30 ).
6. Gender as a social construct (24:58 ).
7. Pronouns and gender assignment (28:54 ).
8. Is there a genetic factor? (35:33 ).
9. Sharing our family’s story (40:26 ).
10. Being transgender - medication, medical transition and more (45:43 ).
11. What’s ahead at sixteen? (48:58 ).

Connect with Tammy
If you are interested in learning more about parenting a transgendered child, please visit https://www.tammyplunkett.com/defining-transgender/ to download your free copy of Tammy’s "Defining Transgender" e-book. You can also visit https://www.youtube.com/user/TPHealthWellness to watch Tammy’s videos, or connect with her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TammyPlunkettAuthor.

Connect with Helen
If you would like to connect with Helen or find out more about her journaling retreats, please visit www.thegiftofbeingpresent.com or email Helen at helen@thegiftofbeingpresent.com.