Kate Brookes

Transister is a story about a family's journey of acceptance and self-discovery. Author Kate Brookes shares her raw, honest, and sometimes humorous account of raising her child, who identifies as transgender. Brookes had always wanted to be a mother, and she was determined to parent her children differently than her own mentally ill mother had parented her. She wanted to create a "normal" family, and when she gave birth to twins after two years of fertility struggles, she was relieved to have two boys. She thought that raising boys would be easier than raising girls, as she was not a girly girl herself. However, by the time her twins were eight years old, Brookes had two realizations: Her obstetrician's announcement that she had given birth to two boys was incorrect. Her child, who she had named Max, identified as a girl. There is no such thing as a "normal" family. Every family is unique, and that is what makes them beautiful. Brookes's story is a reminder that gender identity is a complex and fluid thing. It is also a reminder that love and acceptance are the most important things in a family.