‘It is an endless love that makes you think only of his well-being’ – the experiences and accounts of ‘motherly love’ among Israeli mothers with transgender (trans) children

ABSTRACT

Little is known about the parenting experiences of mothers with trans young adults. Here, we conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with 15 Israeli mothers of trans young adults (average age: 21.26) to examine their parenting experiences in terms of the motherly love concept. The mothers described their experiences under the motherly love concept, encompassing unconditional love, protection and self-sacrifice. The mothers presented how their interpersonal relations with their trans children developed through the axis of birth-loss-rebirth, which enhanced their emotional ties with their children. The mothers also described their involvement in social activism as an expression of devoted motherhood that articulated the motherly love concept. The mothers’ parenting experiences were simultaneously similar to, and different from, the motherly love concept, encompassing its essentialist and relational aspects alongside its subversive and socio-political elements.

KEYWORDS:

• Trans young adults
• motherhood
• motherly love
• gender diversity
• parenting experiences
• social activism

Acknowledgement

This study was conducted at the Nevet institute for Context Informed Research, The Paul Baerwald School of Social-Work and Social Welfare and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).