Story of Florida Family Raising a Gender-Neutral 'Theyby' Goes Viral and Sparks Heated Debate
A Florida mother revealed on national television that she would raise her 11-month-old baby as a ‘theyby.’ The family is a ‘transgender household’ and have said that they will let their children decide their sex when they get older.
Ari Dennis, a 30-year-old Florida parent, was speaking on ITV’s ‘Good Morning Britain’ when she revealed that she is going to bring up her 11-month-old baby as gender neutral. She called the child ‘Theyby’ and said the child would decide its gender when it grows older.
Show host, Piers Morgan questioned Ari’s decision and moral grounds to do what she intends to do, and she accused him of ‘childism.’
She revealed that she and her partner agreed to bring up their child named Sparrow as a ‘theyby’ after their older child, Hazel, raised as a girl decided to be identified as a non-binary at the age of four. Ari also revealed that Sparrow’s anatomy is known only to a few people, which include the parents and a selected few of the theyby's caregivers.
As for her gender, it is all left for Sparrow to decide, as her birth certificate even shows her sex as unknown.
Ari who identifies as a non-binary went on to reveal that she is in a multi-adult family where everyone identifies as transgender. She is legally married to a transgender and in a relationship with another.
Defending her actions, she said that children at Sparrow’s age do not understand gender and as such should be left to decide what gender they are at an older age, a decision based on their own choices and not based solely on their anatomy.
Ari is not alone in her beliefs either.
A Facebook group known as ‘Parenting Theybies: Using they/them/their pronouns for kids from the start’ is raising awareness for gender neutrality and currently has a 350 member community for parents who choose to raise their children as gender neutrals.
The genderless approach to raising babies is beginning to get star acceptance.
Star actress Kate Hudson has revealed that she is taking a genderless approach to raising her third child, Rani. Rani was born to Kate and her boyfriend, Danny Fujiakwa in October.
Kate was speaking to AOL and reacting to a question about the difference between raising a girl child and a boy child; her first two children are boys, while Rani is a girl.
She said that her approach has not changed, though there is a difference. She went on to say that it is best to raise children individually as no one knows what they will get to identify as later on.