How I met my son - a story of acceptance

‘The sky didn’t fall, and our family didn’t fall apart. We just started using different pronouns. Oh, I had to change the name stored in my phone with his number. That was a bit of a pain.’
– Yolanda Bogert

Yolanda Bogert, a mum from regional Queensland, made worldwide news when she placed a notice in the Courier Mail in December 2014. It read: ‘A Retraction: In 1995 we announced the arrival of our sprogget, Elizabeth Anne, as a daughter. He informs us that we were mistaken. Oops! Our bad. We would now like to present, our wonderful son – Kai Bogert. Loving you is the easiest thing in the world. Tidy your room.’
How I Met My Son is the incredible back story behind the headline that went viral.
For Yolanda, discovering she was pregnant at fifteen was a life-saving moment. She diverged from the destructive path of drugs, abuse and homelessness that years in the foster care system had paved for her and threw herself into loving and caring for her new baby.
She instantly formed a close-knit bond with her child. Together they escaped the restrictions of poverty with their wild imaginations: dingy rentals gave way to a world of wonder built out of pillow fortresses.
But 17 years later Yolanda looked into the eyes of her child and saw the same depths of depression and suicidal ideations that she had conquered with the love of motherhood. Desperate to help, Yolanda realised she could ease her child’s pain by a simple act of unconditional love: accepting her daughter as a son named Kai.
Wanting to publicly celebrate her son’s news, Yolanda bought a $50 spot in the Courier Mail birth notices and asked Kai to make sure he bought a copy of the paper the next day. The response was overwhelming, with interview requests from theNew York Times and the BBC, and TV presenters camped out on her front lawn. Despite the positive awareness of transgender issues it raised, Yolanda now regrets the notice. One quick Google search of ‘Kai Bogert’ will quickly alert any potential employer of Kai’s transition – Kai will never ‘pass’ as being born male.
In How I Met My Son Yolanda delivers her powerful perspective on a myriad of social issues in the frank and funny spirit that propelled her birth notice with such momentum.
Transgender Facts
• Approximately 18,000 Australian students currently identify as transgender*
• 99.5 per cent of people who identify as transgender in adolescence continue to do so throughout their adult life^
• The regret rate after surgery is less than half a per cent, including regret around hormone treatment, surgical treatment and poor surgical outcomes*
• Up to 50% of trans people have attempted suicide at least once in their lives#
Sources:
*Mamamia http://www.mamamia.com.au/four-corners-transgender-report/#7mj8e376jTlSBGkI.99
^ Four Corners, Being Me 17 November 2015 http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2014/11/17/4127631.htm
# Beyond Blue paper: Rosenstreich, G. (2013) LGBTI People Mental Health and Suicide. Revised 2nd Edition. National LGBTI Health
Alliance. Sydney
For more information, a review copy or to arrange an interview with the author please contact: Grace Breen,grace.breen@affirmpress.com.au P: (03) 8695 9619 M: 0425 310 166
About the Author
Yolanda Bogert is a proud mother of two, living in rural Jimboomba, Queensland. She’s a former bookstore owner with her own incredible life story. This is her first book