One night after a playdate, she slipped into a borrowed pink princess nightgown. She twirled, smiled and said, “It’s a little itchy … but I want to sleep in it. It makes me feel beautiful.”

Hearing those last five words — “it makes me feel beautiful” — cracked something open. I saw her — not just my child, but her truth. And I couldn’t unsee it.

She socially transitioned when she was 5. That meant we began using her chosen name and she/her pronouns. She wore the clothes she loved. She introduced herself as a girl.