An Inspiring Story of a 5 Year Old Transgender Boy

There is such a raw truth to the statement, “You never know what love is until you have a child,” and you will truly only understand that if you do have a child. That’s not to say others don’t know love without kids, but there is something special about the love parents have for kids. There is something we cannot put into words, but we do know this; our kids mean everything to us and we would do anything for them. We want our kids to be happy. Nothing hurts a parent as much as a child who is hurting, and that is precisely how Mimi and Joe Lemay felt when their daughter, Mia, rarely ever smiled. See, Mia didn’t want to be a girl.

Mia wanted to be a boy, and she began asking to be treated as a boy when she was only 2-years-old, which, according to professionals, is a good sign that a child is transgender. Mia was insistent, persistent and consistent in her desire to be a boy. She rejected all things feminine. She did not wear girly clothes, play with girly toys or respond to the name Mia. She only responded to Jacob, and did not respond to being called a girl.

Over the years, the Lemay’s realized that their daughter was actually their son, and they began raising him as the boy he wanted to be. Repeated psychological testing showed the Lemay’s that their child was indeed transgender, and that he would not live a happy or healthy lifestyle if he was forced to be the girl he was born physically but was not emotionally or mentally. The Lemay’s, after being involved in a devastating car accident, realized that the most important thing for Mia was to be Jacob; and they began treating him as a boy and referring to him as Jacob.

The family even made the decision to switch schools so that his classmates and teachers would know him only as a boy from that point on, so that the kids would not make fun of him and so that they would not be confused. After all, it’s not always easy for a group of 5-year-olds to understand why a girl in their class was suddenly a boy.

Today, Jacob is a healthy, happy little boy who spends most of his time smiling and enjoying life, and his family could not be happier.

What we can learn from this story is a valuable lesson; people have to be themselves if they want to be happy. And children are honest. They know what they want. They are insistent that they want to be themselves, and we have to let them do that. Imagine how Bruce Jenner’s life would have differed if he’d been given the same opportunity when he was a child who realized that he identified as a transgender personality. Way to go Jacob – you have a pretty awesome family to speak of.

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