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This family is part of the Gender Creative Parenting movement and have decided to raise their two-year-old toddler “Zoomer” in a gender neutral environment.

Kyl and Brent Myer from Utah have made a conscious decision not to tell people if their child is a girl or a boy, shares The Sun.

Little Zoomer is therefore a “theyby”.

Other than the immediate family, the modern parents said they: “Don’t disclose their sex to people who don’t need to know.”

Hi! We’ve made quite a few new friends since Alex Morris’ #THEYBY article came out in @NYmag and @TheCut this week. We want to introduce ourselves to you and welcome you into our world! I’m Kyl, Zoomer’s mom, Brent is Zoomer’s dad, and Zoomer is our incredible little toddler. Brent and I practice gender creative parenting. We didn’t assign a gender to Zoomer, we don’t disclose their sex to people who don’t need to know, and we use gender-neutral pronouns for Zoomer (they/them/their). We actively work to provide Zoomer with an environment that celebrates their individuality. We expose them to all kinds of toys, clothes, colors and activities and we encourage their interests and self-expression. Parenting this way has certainly reduced Zoomer’s experiences with gendered micro-aggressions and stereotypes. Additionally, we actively strive to teach Zoomer about diversity, inclusion, equality, autonomy, and social justice. We are able to do this with an amazing network of supportive and loving family members, friends, and caretakers. We are very proud and confident about our decision to raise Zoomer this way and we felt a responsibility to be a resource for people who are interested in learning more about gender creative parenting. As you’ll see, there is virtually NO negativity on our account. We are proud of the community we have cultivated here and we intentionally created a space that is accessible, respectful, kind and fun. We’re happy you’re here. Check out our website RaisingZoomer.com and my TEDx talk (google “Kyl Myers TED talk”). We hope you find what you’re looking for. Feel free to DM us with your questions. And if you feel so inclined, we’d love to know more about you! ⭐️ What’s your name, where are you from, and what brought you here? ⭐️ ???? – The Courtney-Myers Family

A post shared by raising zoomer (@raisingzoomer) on

Kyl and Brent have also opted to use gender neutral pronouns when referring to their little one, like they/them/their.

 

A post shared by raising zoomer (@raisingzoomer) on

They made the choice in an attempt to unburden their baby from being “pigeon-holed” as a specific gender. Kyl said or her blog, “The sex does not tell us anything about the child’s personality, temperament, favourite colour, dietary preferences, sense of humour, attitudes toward climate change, or any of their other unique traits.

“Just like the fact they have two arms doesn’t tell us anything else about them, except they have two arms.”

She does however acknowledge that Zoomer, or Z for short, will eventually identify as one of the genders and stressed that they aren’t banning the child from expressing any gender-specific preferences. She said in a blog post: “Zoomer will most likely choose a gender by the time they are three or four.

“We simply don’t believe that is our decision to make on their behalf. By not revealing their sex, and by treating them in a gender creative way, Z will have the freedom to explore and create their own identity, outside of the restrictions and expectations of traditional gender norms.”

If people don’t know Zoomer’s sex, they can’t treat them like a boy or a girl, but rather, Z gets to be treated like the awesome little kid they are and experience a stereotype-free early childhood.

 

 

“Twuck!” ????

 

A post shared by raising zoomer (@raisingzoomer) on

Singer Paloma Faith has also vowed not to dress her children in stereotypical “boy/girl”colours such as pink and blue, insisting: “I just want them to be who they want to be.”

Recently we shared the story of baby Searyl Atli, the Canadian government claims the 8-month-old could be the first baby in the world without a government registered gender. Read more on that story HERE.

There was also the  Californian couple who have said they will allow their child to decide whether he or she would like to be raised as a boy or a girl and until then raise him or her as gender fluid. Read that HERE.

Pink shocked fans when she also revealed she is raising her children to be gender-neutral. Read her views HERE.

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  • Each to their own but by now im guessing this child has met other children and they will ask if not sure “Are you a boy or a girl?”…. I hope that other children are accepting when Soomer says they have no idea

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  • Whilst I wish the family all the best I feel it’s strange to hide the gender of their child. I hope Zoomer copes well with it.

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  • All the best to the family.

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  • I don’t like judging people but God Bless wish baby zoomer and family all the best

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  • I couldn’t do this myself but as long as the child is fit and healthy and well looked after that’s the main thing

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  • Some people don’t deserve to have children. Obviously this couple have some aversion to being proud of their gender. Lord don’t let them breed again.

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  • I figure we’re going to see and hear more of this. As a society, it’s learned behaviour, so I imagine in the future our learned behaviour will change and for our children and their children, this will be the norm. It will take a change of generation though.

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  • Forget picking a gender. Why would you name your kid zoomer? Thats awful!

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  • What is wrong with raising your kid the traditional way these days? This is just weird. You were born one way or the other and there is nothing wrong with that.

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  • Totally their choice but I can foresee some issues/problems as the child goes through various stages of life …

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  • I can understand wanting to bring up a child without typical gender stereotyping. I tend not to volunteer my daughters gender because I have noticed as soon as I do, there is this assumption that she is not every bit as active, wild and a whirlwind of a child just because she is a girl. They also assume she wants pink things and wants to play with dolls.
    I don’t have a boy yet, but I’ve watched the boys at playgroup and she loves playing with them, she loves playing in the dirt, getting messy and testing her safety limits all the time. But she also has a doll she plays with and loves her tutu skirts.
    She is a girl, and I do not hide that from her, I just avoid sharing it with others so she doesn’t get pigeonholed into a person she isn’t. Even family do it. At Christmas she received some Paw Patrol gifts, even from family they favoured the female pup as gifts. Sure she loved it, but now she has a tonne more “Skye” toys than others and honestly she just loves playing with them all the Paw patrol pups.

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  • I can understand the parents motives and it sounds all very modern and free.
    However I do think this can conflict within the child when it grows up. Imagine the children at school asking if “they” are a boy or a girl and “they” have to answer ‘I don’t know’….Imagine the child still doesn’t know what gender it is when the teenage years kick in and menstruation or whatever occurs…


    • The parents clearly have some issues which they most likely transfer to the child this way.

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  • I think this is an interesting experiment and will look forward to hearing how it all turns out in the end. Personally I don’t see a problem with he and she as long as you give your child all choices in life without saying things like ‘dont do that only boys do that’ or dont wear that only girls wear that’ and vice versa. We have already seen the end (I hope) of hearing ‘boys dont cry’ so I am not surprised at parents taking new initiatives for different ways of bringing up a child.

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  • How old will the child be when views and choices are made?
    Some reach that point a lot younger than others – but do they really understand the impact it may or may not make.
    It’ll be interesting to see which toilet the child uses at school.

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  • For me it is bit difficult to understand.Anyway , will that be a trend ?

    Reply

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