Three years ago a member of our family disclosed that they were transgender. The umbrella term transgender refers to ‘a significant minority of people whose gender expression or identity differs from societal expectations of their assigned sex at birth’ (Bailey et al. 2014). We had not faced anything like this before and we quickly learnt that transgender issues provoke strong opinions and emotions. Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens for full text. SSOTP - You can request a copy of this article by replying to this email. Please ensure you are clear which article you are requesting.