Mom raising her child without a gender is being accused of abuse

A mother who decided to raise her child without a gender has opened up about the abuse she has received in response.

Dr. Kyl Myers, who is originally from Salt Lake City, told Mamamia that people have contacted his family through a variety of means - including by email and letter - to say that their child, named Zoomer, should be taken out of their care.

The doctor explained that people have told her "this is child abuse" and "I get it, but I don't agree with it."

This Florida mother also reveals how she is raising a gender-neutral baby:

She explained: "We didn't assign a binary girl-or-boy gender to our child, Zoomer, at birth; we don't disclose Zoomer's genitals to people who don't need to know.

"We used the gender-neutral pronouns they/them/their for Zoomer until they could tell us what pronouns and labels fit best; and Zoomer learns about and explores gender without stereotypical expectations or restrictions."

The couple explained that they regularly asked their child which pronouns they preferred until they decided that they were a "he" at the age of four in March 2016.

In an article that she wrote for Time magazine, she explained: "Zoomer understands that some girls have penises and some boys have vulvas, and some intersex kids have vulvas and testes. Zoomer knows some daddies get pregnant and some nonbinary parents are called Zazas.

"When a character on a kids' show says, 'Hello, boys and girls!' Zoomer adds, 'And nonbinary pals!'."

The doctor explained that while, at first, many people don't understand her approach to parenting, she said that they often become supporters of it when they understand why it is done.

Dr. Myers explained that gender is different from the sex a person is assigned at birth.

She herself identifies as a genderqueer woman and her pronouns are they/them and she/her, which is why she did not want to make any assumptions about her child's gender.

Dr. Myers said: "I don't want to perpetuate sexist stereotypes and oppression that children are inundated with from birth."

She explained that one of the biggest motivators behind her decision was the "lifelong repercussions" of the different ways that boys and girls are treated.

And while she herself has received backlash for her decision, she said that the majority of children who Zoomer has interacted with were satisfied when he explained that he was a person.

Dr. Myers has opened up about the process of letting her child decide their own gender in a book, Raising Them: Our Adventure in Gender Creative Parenting.