A mother’s memoir of her transgender child’s odyssey, and her journey outside the boundaries of the faith and culture that shaped her.
From the age of two-and-a-half, Jacob, born “Em,” adamantly told his family he was a boy. While his mother Mimi struggled to understand and come to terms with the fact that her child may be transgender, she experienced a sense of déjà vu—the journey to uncover the source of her child’s inner turmoil unearthed ghosts from Mimi’s past and her own struggle to live an authentic life.
Mimi was raised in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish family, every aspect of her life dictated by ancient rules and her role as a woman largely preordained from cradle to grave. As a young woman, Mimi wrestled with the demands of her faith and eventually made the painful decision to leave her religious community and the strict gender roles it upheld.
Having risen from the ashes of her former life, Mimi was prepared to help her son forge a new one — at a time when there was little consensus on how best to help young transgender children. Dual narratives of faith and motherhood weave together to form a heartfelt portrait of an unforgettable family. Brimming with love and courage, What We Will Become is a powerful testament to how painful events from the past can be redeemed to give us hope for the future. (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)
A friend recently recommended What We Will Become to me and I'm so glad they did. I never would have heard of it otherwise, but it was such a great read that I am thankful I had the opportunity to check it out.
Mimi and I have some things in common. Although our paths of Jewish observance went in opposite directions, there are definitely still things we can identify and connect about. We were born in the same year, pretty close in time to each other. (I'm exactly one month older.) We both live on the east coast and have three kids (she has two girls and a boy and I have two boys and a girl). We had our kids close in time and the name she used for her middle child (until he changed it) was the same as my middle child's name. Having said all this, Mimi was easily relatable and I feel like we would hit it off if we ever met in person.
This captivating memoir goes back and forth in time until Mimi catches up to the present. Mimi talks about her Orthodox Jewish upbringing and her challenging family structure. She takes us through her teen years and her time studying Judaism abroad. Then she goes into what leads her to leave her family and observance behind and move on to a different life that is in opposition to her mom's dreams for her. Meanwhile, she talks about her middle child, who believes they are a boy born into the wrong body, even at a very young age. This leads to a lot of challenging behaviors from her toddler and Mimi tries to work through everything until she realizes what truly needs to be done to make her child happy.
I highly recommend What We Will Become! It's relevant to what is going on in the present. While it was published in 2019, I'd love a follow-up to see what Mimi's son is up to now and how things are going for him with all the anti-trans sentiment and laws taking place in our country. While I can't relate to Mimi's situation directly, there is an understanding that we have in common, about wanting to make the world a better place for our kids when things might not be as easy or cookie-cutter for them. Fans of Unorthodox (reviewed here) will also appreciate this book.
Oddly enough, I was scrolling through Facebook and came across an article about a singer my children grew up listening to. I love that she is supportive of children who are transgender!
Side note: I found it funny that Honey Badger was mentioned a few times, as my husband and I used to joke about those videos a lot. He even got me a Honey Badger shirt around the time the videos were popular. My husband is reading this book now and he was amused by the reference too.
Enjoyed this post? Never miss out on future posts by following us.
Listen to this book on Speechify!
No comments:
Post a Comment