Parents try to raise Genderless Children

From the Article:

"So it's a boy, right?" a neighbour calls out as Kathy Witterick walks by, her four month old baby, Storm, strapped to her chest in a carrier.

Each week the woman asks the same question about the baby with the squishy cheeks and feathery blond hair.

Witterick smiles, opens her arms wide, comments on the sunny spring day, and keeps walking.

She's used to it. The neighbours know Witterick and her husband, David Stocker, are raising a genderless baby. But they don't pretend to understand it.

While there's nothing ambiguous about Storm's genitalia, they aren't telling anyone whether their third child is a boy or a girl.

The only people who know are Storm's brothers, Jazz, 5, and Kio, 2, a close family friend and the two midwives who helped deliver the baby in a birthing pool at their Toronto home on New Year's Day.

"When the baby comes out, even the people who love you the most and know you so intimately, the first question they ask is, 'Is it a girl or a boy?'" says Witterick, bouncing Storm, dressed in a red-fleece jumper, on her lap at the kitchen table.

"If you really want to get to know someone, you don't ask what's between their legs," says Stocker.

When Storm was born, the couple sent an email to friends and family: "We've decided not to share Storm's sex for now — a tribute to freedom and choice in place of limitation, a stand up to what the world could become in Storm's lifetime."

[...]

The grandparents were supportive, but resented explaining the gender-free baby to friends and co-workers. They worried the children would be ridiculed. Friends said they were imposing their political and ideological values on a newborn. Most of all, people said they were setting their kids up for a life of bullying in a world that can be cruel to outsiders.

EDIT: Link to full article HERE

I dont get it, does the baby have some disorder of some kind or are the parents just dumba***s?

Wierdos

I don't see the point in this. when the child gets a little older it wil be obvious if its a boy or girl

So the kid doesn't have a penis nor a vagina Puberty is sure going to be weird for the kid. :P

[spoiler] yeah way to go parents, thinking you know what's good for your child. Pulease, it's not going to change how other people treat it. [/spoiler]

I don't see the point in this. when the child gets a little older it wil be obvious if itds a boy or girl

toast_burner

So the kid doesn't have a penis nor a vagina Puberty is sure going to be weird for the kid. :P

SirWander

trying to raise the PC bar, and once again bringing humanity down a peg

Yeah, I'm sure the kid will be just fine with that once he/she realizes what's going on... Poor kid has to be raised by total weirdos, and I'm sure they will cause him a lot of embarrassment.

Well, even without cultural and environmental influences, men and women are still very different, physically and mentally. So unless the parents use force or simply lie to their children, they (the children) will eventually become their own.

Based on some of the comments I've seen, I just want to reiterate that according to the article there is nothing physically odd with the children. That is, they aren't "missing" anything nor do they have anything "extra." (Not hermaphrodites or anything like that either). Just to clarify.

Based on some of the comments I've seen, I just want to reiterate that according to the article there is nothing physically odd with the children. That is, they aren't "missing" anything nor do they have anything "extra." (Not hermaphrodites or anything like that either). Just to clarify.

YellowOneKinobi

While the parents are free to practice their social and ideologic desires, it's unforunate that it will be the child who suffers. They really shouldn't be running their experiment on another person.

[QUOTE="YellowOneKinobi"]

Based on some of the comments I've seen, I just want to reiterate that according to the article there is nothing physically odd with the children. That is, they aren't "missing" anything nor do they have anything "extra." (Not hermaphrodites or anything like that either). Just to clarify.

Teenaged

Based on some of the comments I've seen, I just want to reiterate that according to the article there is nothing physically odd with the children. That is, they aren't "missing" anything nor do they have anything "extra." (Not hermaphrodites or anything like that either). Just to clarify.

YellowOneKinobi

I understood it. I was just making fun of it.

But still, the child's name is Storm; that should be embarrassment enough for it. And the parents are just exploiting it, thinking they can make some social change. But the rational seems genuine enough, that a person's gender is irrelevant to the character they manifest. But most people will not share that viewpoint.

[QUOTE="YellowOneKinobi"]

Based on some of the comments I've seen, I just want to reiterate that according to the article there is nothing physically odd with the children. That is, they aren't "missing" anything nor do they have anything "extra." (Not hermaphrodites or anything like that either). Just to clarify.

Teenaged

keeping it a secret will not last very long...comp_atkins

I understood it. I was just making fun of it.

But still, the child's name is Storm; that should be embarrassment enough for it. And the parents are just exploiting it, thinking they can make some social change. But the rational seems genuine enough, that a person's gender is irrelevant to the character they manifest. But most people will not share that viewpoint.

SirWander

If the person's gender is so irrelevant, then why try so hard to raise the kid genderless? That almost seems to defeat any point that the parents were trying to make.

[QUOTE="comp_atkins"]keeping it a secret will not last very long...surrealnumber5

[QUOTE="Teenaged"][QUOTE="YellowOneKinobi"]

Based on some of the comments I've seen, I just want to reiterate that according to the article there is nothing physically odd with the children. That is, they aren't "missing" anything nor do they have anything "extra." (Not hermaphrodites or anything like that either). Just to clarify.

kamikaze_pigmy

No, they're keeping the child's sex a secret. Gender is a different thing, and it really does sound as if they are trying to raise the child to be without a gender.

[QUOTE="SirWander"]

I understood it. I was just making fun of it.

But still, the child's name is Storm; that should be embarrassment enough for it. And the parents are just exploiting it, thinking they can make some social change. But the rational seems genuine enough, that a person's gender is irrelevant to the character they manifest. But most people will not share that viewpoint.

MrGeezer

If the person's gender is so irrelevant, then why try so hard to raise the kid genderless? That almost seems to defeat any point that the parents were trying to make.

I don't know, ask them.

[QUOTE="MrGeezer"]

[QUOTE="SirWander"]

I understood it. I was just making fun of it.

But still, the child's name is Storm; that should be embarrassment enough for it. And the parents are just exploiting it, thinking they can make some social change. But the rational seems genuine enough, that a person's gender is irrelevant to the character they manifest. But most people will not share that viewpoint.

SirWander

If the person's gender is so irrelevant, then why try so hard to raise the kid genderless? That almost seems to defeat any point that the parents were trying to make.

I don't know, ask them.

I don't need to ask them. It was a rhetorical question. The answer is obviously that they didn't think this through very well.

Not the first parents to have an androgynous child. Am I missing something here?Victorious_Fize

[QUOTE="Victorious_Fize"]Not the first parents to have an androgynous child. Am I missing something here?mrmusicman247

Oh... well, that's odd. It's better to keep things normal when raising a child, he'll get special on his own.

Some people maybe shouldn't have kids. That poor kid is going to be the victim of some serious bullying.

I dont mean to be disrespectful but does the baby have some disorder like a hermaphrodite. its okay if they are protecting him/her. but they are also morons for doing such things. wouldnt there be confusion in this guy/girls mind about his/her sex and sexuality. they are damaging the kid's pysche. cant they understand the repurcussions?

I think that the fact that the kids name is Storm puts him at a much higher risk of bullying than an undeclared sex.

I think that the fact that the kids name is Storm puts him at a much higher risk of bullying than an undeclared gender.chrisrooR

Storm isn't a terrible name compared to some others out there.Theokhoth

The things that make the news.

I read this yesterday in my local paper. What a bunch of wingnuts! Not just because of the whole gender being a secret thing but if you read the article their whole parenting method is questionable, IMO.

Oh... well, that's odd. It's better to keep things normal when raising a child, he'll get special on his own.

Victorious_Fize

Or she'll get special on her own. :o

They've got some balls to stand up against societal norms.foxhound_fox

This reminds me of a story I read in university.

Any way, this is strange. I've heard of transgendered children, but I can't imagine why you would try and keep them completely neutral.

Then again, I wish I'd had the same opportunity.

So the parents have decided to do a social experiment with their child... interesting. I think they should go in front of an IRB and defend their hypothesis, whatever that may be.

They've got some balls to stand up against societal norms.foxhound_fox

[QUOTE="YellowOneKinobi"]

Based on some of the comments I've seen, I just want to reiterate that according to the article there is nothing physically odd with the children. That is, they aren't "missing" anything nor do they have anything "extra." (Not hermaphrodites or anything like that either). Just to clarify.

Teenaged