Transgender Teens Struggle In Foster Care
Alex lived with her family in a nice home in an affluent San Antonio suburb, where she had all the comforts and advantages that come with that life. Although she was born male, Alex identifies as a female, a revelation that led to friction with her family and her eventual estrangement from them.
My mother and I would argue and then I would run away. I would run away so much that Child Protective Services eventually took me away, Alex recalled.
Alexs experiences after she was placed in the foster-care system were no better. She says the families she was sent to live with were never told of her gender identity. CPS didnt tell them until I was already placed within the home, she said. She also remembers counselors and psychologists whom she says would attempt to confuse her. There would always be something mentally wrong with me. Every year, I was required to have a psychological exam, but the psychologist that I was forced to seehe would creep me out. He said that I wanted to be something that I was not.
If they had asked me questions, it would have made me feel like someone actually cared about me, Alex added. I would constantly ask myself, why cant people see me the way that I want to be seen? Ultimately she ended up on the street. I just wanted to die. I didnt see any happiness for myself. I just wanted a shower and a home. I was so weak and dizzy and tired and hungry.
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