dsdfamilies

Debate (and donate to) our needs dsdfamilies.org/donate

We urge policymakers to look carefully at the work by @Empower_DSD (funded by German state funding) and to invest urgently in psychosocial and peer support, resources for families, growing children and young people and communication training for professionals. Focus on our needs.

Much of dsdfamilies advocacy focuses on helping families, children & young people understand and live well with different sex development. Wonderful to see our work acknowledged in this great article by @Empower_DSD

We work hard on raising funds from trusts & funding bodies, & are very grateful for the one-off & regular donations ❤️ we receive. More info before you make a donation or a gift? All our annual reports are freely available or do write to us. Donate here: dsdfamilies.org/donate

With regular funding in place we could do more, e.g. around: - raising awareness in schools (building on our school guide) dsdfamilies.org/download_file/… - positive public awareness about living well w/these (congenital, biological) conditions - regular programme of face-to-face events

Below a reminder of work we do. We are also delighted that this week we: -kickstart a new fully-funded 5 week Circle for parents of girls w/XY & boys w/dsd -are running a psychology session w/ the fantastic LML -received some fantastic funding news for young people & families

Debate our needs, not our bodies Girls & women living with CAIS often only learn about how their body developed when they are mid/late teens. What they need is good peer support, accessible & accurate info, thoughtful medical care, and a society that embraces them warmly.

Visibility of young people living with different sex development is about them being able to choose who to tell, what to say, and how to say it. It is about making young people agent of their body and their story. Will you help? dsdfamilies.org/donate Thanks.

Having a DSD or a variations of sex development is not a barrier to a great life. But we need psycho-social support from day 1 through to adulthood, and -crucially- peer support. We need clear information to learn about DSD and learn to talk about dsd. Will you help?

Still looking for a Xmas present? Why not make a donation? dsdfamilies is a small, effective & much needed charity supporting children & young people living with different sex development and their families. dsdfamilies.org/donate

Big thank you to our monthly donors!! Your regular donations make a huge difference to our small charity. 100% of your donations are invested into activities, support and resources for families, children and young people.

We love our youth consultants and their INSTA (yourpace.dsd) . Give them a 👏👏 For young people following us: do feel free to reach out to them via INSTA. For healthcare professionals: do give them a follow and refer young people in your care.

Your doctors might be able to put you in touch with local families, or you might be able to link into peer events put on by your team or by dsdfamilies or other peer support groups.

Quality peer support provides a safe space to say how you REALLY feel (when you also feel no-one else can REALLY understand) or to practice the story that needs to be told - in the most loving ways possible, and however scary that feels.

Having support outside of the hospital can be very important, indeed essential, for the well-being of the family. Whilst some families discuss their child’s condition with family and friends, & draw a lot of support from it, others rarely discuss it beyond their closest family.

From our youth-led Insta account @yourPace.dsd 'Confidence comes with time…when you’re a teen it’s easy to think that to be confident is to be extremely loud but to be confident can be to be secure within yourself' instagram.com/p/CW0zPcZsgkN/

Congrats to our fellow trustee Ieuan Hughes for receiving the James M Tanner Award at #BSPED2021 Thanks for the shout out Ieuan. 'We hope we can all work together for the benefit of children and families' For information: dsdfamilies.org info@dsdfamilies.org