(Newser)
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A Toronto couple is taking their beliefs about parenting and gender stereotypes to new heights: They refuse to tell people the gender of 4-month-old Storm, reports the Toronto Star. Even the kid's grandparents are in the dark. “In fact, in not telling the gender of my precious baby, I am saying to the world, ‘Please can you just let Storm discover for him/herself what s(he) wants to be?!” writes mom Kathy Witterick. The decision has generated a storm of criticism, especially after the Star story appeared, most of which can be boiled down to the assertion that Witterick and husband David Stocker are going to seriously mess up their kid because of misguided beliefs.
Just the opposite, says Stocker: “What we noticed is that parents make so many choices for their children. It’s obnoxious." The couple also has two boys, ages 5 and 2, who have been allowed to choose their own clothes, hairstyles, and toys from the get-go. “As a result, Jazz and now Kio are almost exclusively assumed to be girls,” says Stocker. He and Witterick let the boys decide whether to correct people. As unusual as it sounds, they are not the first couple to try this. Click for that and more on the genderless baby debate.
