Beyond Gender-Neutral Parenting: Raising Theybies

Beyond Gender-Neutral Parenting: Raising Theybies examines the emerging practice of ‘theyby’ parenting, also known as ‘gender-open’ or ‘gender-creative’ parenting, in which parents refuse to assign gender to infants and use they/them pronouns as placeholders until children can self-identify. Beyond Gender-Neutral Parenting: Raising Theybies examines the emerging practice of ‘theyby’ parenting, also known as ‘gender-open’ or ‘gender-creative’ parenting, in which parents refuse to assign gender to infants and use they/them pronouns as placeholders until children can self-identify. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 24 theyby parents, the book explores how aspirations for theyby parenting are enacted in everyday life as children move from preverbal infancy into their early years of primary school. It traces parents’ beliefs, challenges, and strategies across home, education, and wider social contexts, offering an insider-researcher perspective grounded in the author’s own nonbinary and trans experiences. The analysis highlights both the structural constraints theyby parents face and the possibilities for social change generated through this dynamic parenting approach. This book is ideal for postgraduate students, researchers, educators, and professionals in childhood studies, gender studies, trans studies, sociology, and education, as well as feminist and trans-affirmative parenting organizations.