I really don't understand this type of thinking, that gender is unimportant, or that a child should be allowed to choose anything they want from the moment they are born. Do these parents protect the health and physical safety of their children, or do they let them get injured first in order to teach them about danger?
Look, there's nothing wrong with heave-hoing the old gender rules and stereotypes. These things do need to be challenged and examined by minds unfettered by traditional social mores. Through this can we achieve a more balanced approach to a mentally, spiritually and physically balanced individual and thus society.
Denying or hiding the truth will not help to attain anything they are looking for, however. This is an unfortunate case of misguided ideals.
Bacour, I disagree that gender is unimportant. Our society seems headed for a "gender optional" environment, but it is not, in my opinion, optional. We are born with certain physical and emotional characteristics that define us. It is when we abandon these in favor of something ambiguous that we see such problems as that described in the article. It specifically states that the older son doesn't like NOT being seen as a boy, regardless of how he wants to dress. Gender is important, and it's important from a very young age.
Not wanting to find out what sex the baby is before its born, thats one thing (one may not want to be unindated with pink or blue clothes) but not to share the gender after its born? This sounds ludicrous. Sounds like child abuse to me. I mean confuse the child even more with trying to figure out what she/he is. Kids have enough to worry about without trying to figure out where they belong and lets face it, other kids can be cruel, this could spark off a huge bullying life for these kids without them doing anything.
JC is right! It' plain child abuse. I read somewhere they tried to do the same thing with the oldest kid and he told him he doesn't want to hide his gender anymore and he wants to tell everyone that he is a BOY! Well, he did and apparently the parents are ok with it for now. Where is Social Services?