This is an interesting conversation, and as a parent of a cherished and transgender child, I appreciate the respect and sincerity of (most of) these comments. I’d like to add the suggestion that we try to wean ourselves off of the idea and the terminology of “the opposite gender.” Many of the posters here are asserting that they/we don’t feel it’s necessary to transition or get upset about entering puberty or being categorized as the other or opposite gender. These statements support the idea that gender is fluid, that it’s a continuum. But the language of OTHER gender or OPPOSITE gender stands in opposition to the fluidity that many people experience and/or want to accept. A brilliant transgender theorist named Alok V. Menon says, “I wasn’t born in the wrong body; I was born in the wrong society.”
We can help improve some aspects of this punitive society by improving our language, and speaking about gender in a way that is not so intensely binary. To speak of two opposite and rigidly-defined genders is not necessary, and it’s not actually accurate. I suspect that some of the emotional pain of gender dysphoria—and possibly some of the chemical and surgical risks of medical transitions—could be reduced by a social transition away from defining and policing gender in such rigid ways.