My Trans Beauty Deserves A Chance

My name is Austyn Mcallister. I am the mother of 14 soon to be 15 year old Carson Mcallister. I have been blessed with the gift of having the bravest daughter in the world. I am writting to you today to tell you our story and am asking that you will take the time to walk through our journey and understand all that we have been through to get to this place. My daughter was born a male and has been on a quest to affirm as the gender which she truly is for the last 15 years, We have had many ups and downs. Being born to a single mother at the age of 21 was not the ideal candidate for a child like carson. However,over the years we have persevered with love and dedication a mutual goal of growing together. Carson began her journey from Male to Female at the early age of 4 years old. Struggling my way through college myself, I was in and out of every psychiatrists office in the Southeast. Not one person was willing to give Carson a diagnosis or help us. However, they were willing to prescribe a plethora of medications for depression and OCD. All resulting in more pain, weightloss and imsomnia for my daughter. Finally at the age of 7 Carson had communicated in various ways that she no longer wished to continue living. Her academic issues and challenges coupled with the feelings of confusion re her gender identity were to much for a 7 year old child to bare. As you can imagine, this was a heartbreaking and scary time for me as her mother. We finally reached out to an LGBT assosciation that guided and directed us in the right direction. Carson began her medical transition at the age of 8 and it has been a scary yet rewarding journey. As her mother I have witnessed some of the most remarkable successes but also so many broken hearted failures. To accomplish these massive hurdles in changing ones Gender coupled with major learnoing disabilities it takes major finacial backing. As a single mother with no finnacial suport, this has been very difficult. There has been alot of sacrafice and there is not a thing I wouldnt give for Carson to be a happy well adjusted fluorishing child. Her academic journey has been a brutal one for her, When asked at a recent private school interview when the last time Carson had educational success; I had to pause. I sat there for quite a few minutes and realized that she has never had one successful academic encounter in her ebntire life. With the increasing medical costs for Carsons healthcare, I have been forced to keep her in the public school system. Ultimately resulting in having a child who is reading on a 4rth grade level in the 7th grade and she is 15 years old. For a mother who covets her education and the opportunities it has afforded me it has been heart breaking to watch this for my child. This year as we approached the end of another year complete with all Fs, it dawned on me that my daughter would no longer be eligible for a high school diploma. She would age out of the public school system. After all of this fighting for her to be a normal high school girl, sadly she would never make it. As a mother who doesnt give up and beleives that love has no boundaries. I began the fight to get carson to a learning disabled private school that would accept Transgender students. There are not many institutions that care to or will accomodate a child like mine. However, I believe in my heart that she deserves the same opportunities as other children. Despite the fact that she was born different and that she may not have been born to the best family. She deserves more. What she has conquered at the age of 15 is unbelievable. She is a beautiful little girl with so much potential and deserves to have a successful academic experience. When Carson interviewed for entrance to the vanguard school, she approached me carefully the morning of and said "mom do you think they will let me in ". I answered her honeslty and told her i did not know. When we found out that Vanguard would not only accomodate her needs academically, that they would remediate her to her grade level and that they would let her have a normal girls boarding school experience despite being Transgendered, We were moved to tears. The Admissions director was moved by my daughters story and asked me to tell her that not only was she was admitted to the Vanguard School but that today, her interview, was her first academic success. They say at the Vanguard school that one has to experience success first to be sucessful. I am asking you today to please give my little girl that chance. She is an example to so many. She is a leader, she is bright, kind, loving, gentle, and special. I want nothing more than for her to flourish and cultivate a learning environment where she can thrive. I beleive she will have that opportunity at Vanguard if we are awarded the aid for her to go. As a single mother working hard to save for upcoming surgeries and advanced Endocrine Hormone management, I cannot afford to send her to this school. They have given us an amazing financial aid package. I know this will change her life and could change her course to the one we have been fighting for all along. I come to you today humbly and ask as a mother, there are no coincidences in this life. Please help us make this dream come true. They say special children are only given to special people, in my life I feel the opoosite, I am just a regular hard working young mother, who was blessed with a gift, this child. Please consider this letter as it is a raw yet true account of our very vulnerable and emotional journey and need. I want to thank you for your time and consideration. It is a blessing that we have come this far and a gift to share our journey with others. Whatever the outcome is for us, we are grateful for the oppportunity to grow and learn always. Humbly yours, Austyn Mcallister