Gender Explained

Diane Ehrensaft, PhD, is a developmental and clinical psychologist, the author of The Gender Creative Child and Gender Born, Gender Made, and coauthor, with Michelle Jurkiewicz, of Gender Explained. At the University of California, San Francisco, she is the cofounder and director of mental health at the Child and Adolescent Gender Center and a professor of pediatrics. She has been featured on the Los Angeles Times online and WIRED online and has appeared on Anderson Live, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and the Today show. Michelle Jurkiewicz, PsyD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and gender specialist in private practice in Berkeley, California. She has been providing therapeutic services to children, youth, and families since 2003. Dr. Jurkiewicz was an early pioneer working with transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expansive youth. In addition to providing psychotherapy for people of all ages, she trains newer clinicians in using the Gender Affirmative Model. Stephen M. Rosenthal, MD, is cofounder and medical director of the multidisciplinary UCSF Child and Adolescent Gender Center (CAGC), where he cares for young transgender clients. He also cares for pediatric clients with endocrine disorders, such as abnormalities involving thyroid function or growth and puberty. Dr. Rosenthal is one of four principal investigators for the Impact of Early Medical Treatment in Transgender Youth, a multicenter study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. He is currently a member of the board of directors of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health.

• Foreword by Stephen M. Rosenthal, MDGlossaryChapter 1: Much Ado About GenderChapter 2: Why Is Gender Such a Thing for So Many Kids?Chapter 3: Why Does Gender Make People So Anxious?Chapter 4: What About This Gender-Affirmative Model?Chapter 5: Where Have All the Young Girls Gone?Chapter 6: Teach Your Parents Well: The Children SpeakChapter 7: What’s a Parent to Do?Chapter 8: Gender Conundrums: Sports, Education, 139 and MedicineChapter 9: Through the Looking GlassChapter 10: Gender Evolution to Revolution: What’s Next?NotesAcknowledgmentsIndexAbout the Authors

"A Finalist for the 2025 Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ+ Nonfiction"Gender Explained serves as a guide for parents of children across many ages and stages. It can provide the insight and language parents desperately need to talk to their children and other family members about their child’s gender journey."