'Transgender 10-Year-Old, Jackie, Born A Boy, Happier As A Girl' (video)

Transgender 10-Year-Old, Jackie, Born A Boy, Happier As A Girl
First Posted: 8/31/11 02:47 PM ET Updated: 8/31/11 05:03 PM ET


Turns out there are parents in the news who do the right thing. Jennifer and John of Ohio have a transgender 10-year-old child, and they support Jackie's decision to live life as a girl.

Since she was 18-months-old, "it was always dancing, dress-up, " says her mother Jennifer. Jackie loved the color pink and wearing ballerina outfits. She wanted sparkles and pretty shoes.

So when Jackie was about two-years-old, Jennifer started looking on the Internet, she tells "Good Morning America." That's when she first learned about transgender and started to wonder.

Jackie's sister, Sagan, was the first to ask if she really wanted to be a girl. "Yeah," she told her sister.

And when Jackie was just ten years old, she went to her mom, crying. "I'm a girl and I can't do this anymore," Jackie said. Without hesitation, Jennifer said, "It's gonna be okay." There was no judgment or disappointment.

Jackie's family abandoned the pronoun "he." At first, they only let her wear girls clothing at home, but eventually allowed her to live as a girl full-time, at school and elsewhere. When asked, Jackie's father John says he has two daughters.

But, not everyone in the family has been as accepting as Jackie's parents. Her grandfather is resistant. "I can not accept that a nine or ten-year-old can make decisions for himself that will be life lasting," he tells GMA.

Although Jackie's parents worry about the future -- things like puberty and how Jackie might be treated later in life at work -- for now, they are focused on her happiness. When Jackie looks in the mirror, all she sees is "a girl that's a person," she says.

Jackie's story will be part of ABC's "Primetime Nightline's (Extra)Ordinary Family" special, airing tonight, Wednesday, Aug. 31 at 10 p.m./9c.