From Ben Affleck to Naomi Watts and Elon Musk, it seems like more and more celebrity children are coming out as transgender or non-binary.
DailyMail.com exclusively revealed earlier this year how Affleck and Jennifer Garner’s daughter Seraphina Rose turned up at their grandfather’s funeral wearing a short, masculine haircut and a black suit to announce that they were now called Fin and using the pronouns ‘they/them’.
And in July, Elon Musk got into a public spat with his estranged transgender daughter Vivian, born Xavier. He said she used to be gay but has now fallen victim to the “woke mind virus.”
The idea that there are more transgender people in Hollywood is a a frequent topic of discussion on social media channels, with threads such as ‘Why are all celebrity children trans(?)’ on Reddit.
Experts who spoke to DailyMail.com said it’s possible that circumstances unique to celebrities, such as fame, wealth and where they live, increase the likelihood of their children being transgender.
Ben Affleck’s child Finn has been named Seraphina Rose. The youngster revealed in April that they now use the pronouns they/them. The pair are pictured above last month
Dr Raj Persaud, who works with celebrities on London’s famous Harley Street, says there are several reasons for the apparent increase in cases.
He also wanted to make it clear that his theories did not reflect his personal views, but the views currently being discussed in academic circles.
His first theory is wealth.
Transitioning can be expensive. Transgender people have to adjust their wardrobe and lifestyle, and often opt for surgeries. A mastectomy or upper body surgery costs between $14,000 and $17,000, while genital surgery can cost more than $300,000.
“Maybe there are a lot of people who don’t come out as transgender because it’s so expensive?” Dr. Persaud said. “Sometimes money can affect how much you find something.”
He added: ‘That means it can be a complicated journey and there’s no point in going to the doctor with a disorder if there’s no way to treat the condition.’
Naomi Watts, 55, (left) and her transgender daughter Kai, 15, (right) pictured together in April this year
Actress Jamie Lee Curtis with her daughters Ruby, left, born Tom, and Annie at the Halloween Ends premiere in 2022
The second theory he mentioned was about a possible link between childhood trauma and coming out as transgender.
‘Overall, we see evidence that transgender people have more ACE experiences than the average person when it comes to so-called adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, such as an alcoholic father or a divorce battle.
‘It could also be that a celebrity’s child is much more likely to participate in ACE events than children from the rest of the community.
“They might be followed by the paparazzi, their parents might be going through a public and violent divorce, they don’t know who to trust. All of these things can be stressful.”
Several studies have shown that more ACE events in childhood are associated with an increased likelihood of transgender status.
However, it is unclear whether these experiences contribute to someone becoming transgender, or whether in some cases they may be a result of the challenges faced by those already navigating their transgender identity.
Dr Persaud added that it is not clear why they are linked, only that a link has been established.
Affleck’s 15-year-old son, Fin, spent his most formative years — between the ages of nine and 13 — while his parents were going through a very public and messy divorce.
Born NBA basketball star Dwayne Wade and named Zaya in 2020, 17-year-old Zion also saw her parents go through a turbulent divorce.
Wade had legal issues with his ex-wife Siohvaughn Funches-Wade over child custody and then repeated legal disputes over the children’s upbringing and gender issues.
Zaya came out as transgender at age 12, but faced a legal battle with her mother until her legal name and gender transition were approved in 2020.
Jennifer Lopez was the picture of glamour while shopping on Saturday with Emme, 16, one of the twins she shares with ex-husband Marc Anthony. Emme came out as non-binary in June 2022
Elon Musk’s child was named Xavier Musk, but now identifies as Vivian Jenna Wilson. They are pictured above on Threads
Jamie Lee Curtis’ adopted child, born Tom, was revealed to be a trans woman named Ruby in 2021.
Curtis said she and her husband Christopher Guest struggled to adjust at first, accidentally using Ruby’s “dead name” and getting her pronouns wrong. But she insisted she was a “grateful student.”
The third – and most controversial – theory Dr. Persaud revealed was the suggestion that celebrity children are more likely to be transgender for attention.
According to Dr. Persaud, there may be a factor at play in children living in the shadow of their parents that makes them want to be noticed.
“Those who are not the children of celebrities know that they get a lot of attention when they come out as transgender,” he said.
‘There may be a group of people who do not choose the transgender life, when they otherwise would because they do not want the attention.
“But if you’re a child of attention-seeking parents, and you have attention-seeking genes, and you have a very famous mother and father, it’s a real challenge to get attention. Then there may be something about that attention-seeking that leads you to come out as transgender.”
Sigourney Weaver pictured with daughter Char Simpson in August this year, who came out as non-binary in 2022
Dr. Jonathan Alpert, a psychotherapist in New York City who works with transgender patients, said it’s not so much about seeking attention as it is about establishing their own identity. However, he didn’t think it was a strong theory.
“Our society has become more tolerant and it has become easier for people to identify with that group,” he said.
“But I do think it must be hard to be the son of someone rich and famous. Maybe this is a kind of… rebellion, a way to establish your own identity separate from that of your famous family member.”
He added: ‘I don’t think it’s a strong reason, but it certainly could be a factor.’
Another theory from Dr. Persaud is that being transgender is in some cases related to the environment in the womb.
He says celebrities are more likely to have children later in life, which could change the environment in the womb and cause the brain to be wired differently.
This theory has also been advanced to explain homosexuality. Researchers claim that exposure to certain sex hormones in the womb can lead to same-sex attraction as an adult.
However, the evidence for this from human studies is inconclusive and a causal relationship has not been established.
Helen Joyce, a mathematician and former journalist at The Economist who researches transgender issues – and is a spokesperson for the British charity Sex Matters – added that it could be linked to trends in society.
She said: ‘Another part of it is that it’s just fashionable. It’s the latest status symbol to be the parent of a transgender child.
“I suppose at some point it will go out of fashion, but in the meantime, someone who goes down this path is a huge advocate for it because they have to convince themselves that they made the right choice.”
The map above shows the states that ban transgender youth from participating in sports outside of the gender assigned to them at birth.
Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Frank Anderson disagreed, saying, “In Hollywood, celebrities can’t really be themselves because of their public image.
‘And I have the idea that they do everything they can to help their children grow into who they are.
‘So it wouldn’t surprise me at all if they were more liberal, open and accepting and also more committed to giving their child the opportunity to be themselves sooner.’
The experts pointed out that the increase in celebrity children coming out as transgender is only a “small part of the picture.” It is estimated that there are 1.6 million transgender people in the US.
The number of children identifying as transgender has skyrocketed in recent years, especially among girls, where the number has nearly doubled in recent years.
This has raised concerns in some quarters that a large number of children who are not actually transgender are being ‘shielded’ with ‘affirmation’ when in fact they have another condition, such as autism.
Also, more and more people are coming forward who are detransitioning, saying they were pushed too quickly through gender-affirming care when all they really needed was therapy.
This year, the UK became the latest country to withdraw from the fight against transgender treatments.
In the Cass report, doctors called for a “more cautious approach” and said children who are questioning their gender should not be forced into radical treatments.
It is a follow-up to earlier research in the Netherlands, which showed that many children with a confused gender identity ‘grow out of it’.
The results showed that at the start of the 20-year study of 2,700 children, about one in ten young people expressed varying degrees of “gender dissatisfaction.”
But by age 25, only one in 25 said they were “often” or “sometimes” dissatisfied with their gender.
