Parents Keep Child's Gender Secret

[Surfah]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110524/ts_yblog_thelookout/parents-keep-childs-gender-under-wraps

http://www.parentcentral.ca/parent/babiespregnancy/babies/article/995112--parents-keep-child-s-gender-secret

But the email sent recently by Kathy Witterick and David Stocker of Toronto, Canada to announce the birth of their baby, Storm, was missing one important piece of information. "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 (a more progressive place? ...)," it said.

Stocker and Witterick say the decision gives Storm the freedom to choose who he or she wants to be. "What we noticed is that parents make so many choices for their children. It's obnoxious," adds Stocker, a teacher at an alternative school.

Uh, like the obnoxious decision not to disclose the sex of your child?

[Pheidippides]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_theloo...er-under-wraps

http://www.parentcentral.ca/parent/babiespregnancy/babies/article/995112--parents-keep-child-s-gender-secret

Uh, like the obnoxious decision not to disclose the sex of your child?

Gender doesn't necessarily equate to genitalia. Certain native american tribes had six or more genders.

[BoylenOver]

Naming the kid Storm is worse than choosing not to disclose the gender.

But these parents are raising their kid how they want to. Good for them.

[Surfah]

Gender doesn't necessarily equate to genitalia. Certain native american tribes had six or more genders.

Right. I said sex, as did the parents in the quote. I borrowed gender from the title of the Yahoo article which is a bit misleading.

[YOhio]

It looks they're also raising their child as a Canadian.

[Borderline Divine]

Gender doesn't necessarily equate to genitalia.

True but it's generally a pretty safe way to bet.

[TripletDaddy]

Sounds like they are raising a brood of well-balanced children. Good for them

How did Stocker and Witterick decide to keep Storm's gender under wraps? During Witterick's pregnancy, her son Jazz was having "intense" experiences with his own gender. "I was feeling like I needed some good parenting skills to support him through that," Witterick said.

...

The couple's other two children, Jazz and Kio, haven't escaped their parents' unconventional approach to parenting. Though they're only 5 and 2, they're allowed to pick out their own clothes in the boys and girls sections of stores and decide whether to cut their hair or let it grow.

Both boys are "unschooled," a version of homeschooling, which promotes putting a child's curiosity at the center of his or her education. As Witterick puts it, it's "not something that happens by rote from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays in a building with a group of same-age people, planned, implemented and assessed by someone else."

Because Jazz and Kio wear pink and have long hair, they're frequently assumed to be girls, according to Stocker. He said he and Witterick don't correct people--they leave it to the kids to do it if they want to.

But Stocker and Witterick's choices haven't always made life easy for their kids. Though Jazz likes dressing as a girl, he doesn't seem to want to be mistaken for one. He recently asked his mother to let the leaders of a nature center know that he's a boy. And he chose not to attend a conventional school because of the questions about his gender. Asked whether that upsets him, Jazz nodded.

[Pheidippides]

Sounds like they are raising a brood of well-balanced children. Good for them

Jazz, Kio and Storm?!?!?

[Donuthole]

Jazz, Kio and Storm?!?!?

Autophiles, apparently:
Honda Jazz
Kia + Rio = Kio
Geo Storm

We named our daughter after a motorcycle, but decided it was in her best interest to let others know her sex right from the start.

[creekster]

They're just a bunch of dang hippies and they better keep those long haired freaky pink wearing kids off my dang grass.

[YOhio]

They're just a bunch of dang hippies and they better keep those long haired freaky pink wearing kids off my dang grass.

Are they neighbors of yours, creekster?

[creekster]

Are they neighbors of yours, creekster?

I am just being safe.

[Sullyute]

We named our daughter after a motorcycle, but decided it was in her best interest to let others know her sex right from the start.

Ducati is an awesome name for a kid. I hope that she likes it.

[falafel]

Ducati is an awesome name for a kid. I hope that she likes it.

He actually went with "Bavarian Motor Works."

[Flystripper]

I think naming your child Indian is a little racially insensitive. Maybe that's just me.