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When Jeff and Hillary Whittington were told that their first child would be a girl, they were thrilled. They excitedly decided on a name — Ryland — and painted the nursery pastel pink. Ryland was born in November 2007 and friends and family arrived with polka-dot booties, frilly beanie hats and bows for her hair. She was a healthy, happy baby, but when she was one year old the Whittingtons received a devastating blow: Ryland was deaf.

Ryland’s first words, after ‘Mama’ and ‘Dada,’ were: ‘I’m a boy’

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“We were heartbroken,” says Hillary, who was 25 when Ryland was born. “At that stage we really thought Ryland might never be able to talk or hear.” Jeff, a firefighter, took on a second job to pay for cochlear implants and speech therapy, and the hard work paid off as Ryland made good progress, and eventually moved out of a special-needs pre-school. But soon after, they received another shock. Ryland’s first words, after “Mama” and “Dada”, were: “I’m a boy.”

From the age of two, Ryland cried whenever she was dressed in feminine clothes and ignored dolls in favour of boys’ toys. When she was asked to draw herself at school, she depicted herself with boyish short hair.