Chapter 18: Petitions

“Robert, I got a call from Jonathan's parents law-firm,” she still had difficulty thinking of it as belonging to the boy.

“What did they want?”

“To see you and I about something for the kids. We meet there tomorrow at 2, with the gentleman who was here with Sheila, Mr. Stanley. You don't have any procedures scheduled. I checked.”

Robert comes into the room. “You said ‘kids’. Did that mean Jonathan AND Shelby?”

“Yeah I guess so. Now that you mention it, it does seem odd. Now I'll be up all night wondering.”

“No you won't. Bears hibernate lighter than you sleep.”

“Eat me.”

“Well… if you insist!”

“Robby!”

The Curtis's meet with Aaron Stanley who relates the status of the investigation into the hospital's treatment of Jonathan. “Once we did some digging it turns out he was taken to a state hospital where most of what they do is so-called “health-care” work on illegals, homeless, destitute people and inmates from the area prisons. As for the social worker, she has a history. And not a good one. Her holier-than-thou attitude has led to more than one traumatized child. Normally tenure has protected her. From what we have been able to dig up on her abuses of kids and some adults, added to what she did to Jonathan… we will be pursuing charges. I believe it will be of service to have you, Mrs. Curtis, and your daughter available when we ask Jonathan to give a deposition.

“Of course Mr. Stanley. Anything to get some justice for him.”

Aaron shifts gears, “Mr. And Mrs. Curtis. The reason I asked you in today has more to do with Shelby than Jonathan. However, I did think you deserved to know what the investigation turned up. I’d prefer we left the discussion of this with Jonathan to Dr. Michaels.” The Curtis's nod in agreement.

“But I digress. It's Miss Curtis I’d like to talk about.”

“What exactly is your interest in our daughter Mr. Stanley?” Robert tends to get defensive where Shelby is concerned.”

“Well Mr. Curtis, may I call you Robert? Good. Robert, Jonathan came to me a few weeks ago with a case file he had been working on. - Yes he has his parents talent for the law. - Anyway this was a very interesting case file. It concerned your daughter and what is not generally known about her. We did some checking and confirmed the gender she was assigned at birth.

“You had no right…” Aaron holds up a hand.

“Robert, please hear me out. I realize this may seem like an imposition on our part, being who we are and knowing our responsibility to Jonathan, we felt bound to do some vetting of your family. I realize it's an invasion, please understand it was done at the firm's highest level and only to ensure Jonathan was protected. That boy means everything to many people here. When it comes to his well-being, the Curtis's don't get an exemption.”

“Let's hear him out Rob.”

“Thank you Mrs. Curtis. You see, Robert, Jonathan wants the firm to petition the state to have Shelby's records reconciled to reflect the gender most representative of who she is. A young vibrant intelligent young lady. Unfortunately, in this state and political climate, it’s not always an easy task.

“What do you know about Shelby’s situation?” It’s Mary’s turn to be a bit annoyed and she would like some answers.

“Quite a bit actually… It was Jonathan mainly. The boy is an excellent researcher. Here is her case file. Only myself Jonathan and my senior civil rights solicitor have seen it. I, because of my status as senior partner, my solicitor, because she will execute the petition and Jonathan because he prepared it.”

“As both of you are aware the laws here in the south regarding gender reassignment are fraught with a level of conservatism based neither in science or law. But rather the fear and hate-mongering of the extreme elements of more than one religious sect. When it comes to gender correction, fundamentalist Christians, Jews and Islamists all share the remnants of some very backward thinking and prejudices. Thanks almost entirely to the efforts of these groups, gender correction petitions go denied virtually one hundred percent of the time. In essence a child needs to be born a hermaphrodite with all the equipment then have SRS. After which, the court ‘assigns’ a gender based on the corrective surgery. Usually this is done as an infant. Regrettably the medical community doesn’t always get it right.”

“However for your daughter, there is hope. Jonathan was able to obtain the previous petitions your attorneys have filed on Miss Curtis’s behalf. I myself have reviewed the briefs. Sadly, they could have been better prepared.” Aaron, a lover of the melodramatic, pauses for effect. A somber look on his face.

“Are you saying our attorney’s office missed something?”

Aaron allows himself a smile. “Yes they did. They missed very much in fact. To yours and Miss Curtis’s misfortune the attorneys you retained were not as versed in the pitfalls of conservative law regarding gender, as is this practice. Dr’s. Curtis, you recognized Shelby’s gender differential at an early age. You took steps. One of those steps was to involve Dr. Michaels. It was a very wise and fortunate step.”

“In what way was our going to Sheila, excuse me, Dr. Michaels, fortunate?”

Aaron’s grin widens, “We have access to her. She is a client, and a consultant for the firm. She was willing to confer with us on the topic of Shelby.”

“Speaking of consulting; Dr’s. Curtis, you are both considered to be at the top of your fields. The preferred professionals in the region for what you each do. The firm would consider it a privilege to represent your practices. We may even be able to work out something if we could avail of your services as well. The Moorlands were always big on the barter system with clients…. Oh there I go digressing again. Please consider it and get back to me.“

“What about Shelby?”

“Yes, of course. Let me explain. Here is what Jonathan's research turned up, and how we would present it to the court; Based upon her chromosomes; Shelby is primarily XX indicating she is homogametic, but she also has some key XY markers which indicates a variant vaguely related to Klinefelter syndrome with accompanying post-utero complete androgen insensitivity. Thus she doesn't respond to male hormones, either synthetic or those few her body produces naturally. Because of this, the evidence suggests, she is genetically female but due to the syndrome she unfortunately developed a male reproductive system in-utero. It’s thought to be rare but with advances in research it's starting to be believed more common than historical records suggest.”

Robert holds his hand up to interject, “So your argument is saying the evidence suggests that Shelby is an aberration?”

“Hardly. You are both medical professionals who care deeply about their daughter. Thus very versed in the biology of Shelby and understand there are more like her. Based on the current accepted science, her genetic makeup is more female than male. This is supported by how well she responds to FHRT and the record shows her naturally occurring estrogen was initially tested as higher than normal for a male. What I'm saying is this firm's argument is; the evidence supports the position that she genetically is a girl and not transgender. More importantly, by presenting the case as I’ve described, we can prove it to the court. The firm also has established precedent to support the petition.”

“How does Dr. Michaels play into this?”

“In addition to the genetic evidence, she is able to provide testimony your daughter, mentally, is female. That not only outwardly she appears very much a young lady, mentally she thinks, acts and responds to stimuli as any other young woman would.

Mary has to hold her voice even to restrain her excitement. “So you're saying my little girl will officially be recognized as a woman?”

“Yes.” The Curtis's give each other a hug.

“I would like you both to know, this was Jonathan's doing. He did much of the casework and submitted it to me for the more technical aspects. Once you've reviewed, it will be little more than an exercise in filing the petition and routing through the bureaucracy. The firm’s influence will help accelerate the process.”

Aaron holds up a file. “We would like the two of you to review these documents. If there are any questions or deficiencies we will need to resolve them before filing. After, all you need is to sign. Since Shelby is a minor you could sign for her, but I expect you will want to discuss this with her. Perhaps have her sign as well. It would look better in the eyes of the court.”

“Mary? Give me the check book. I'd like to take care of any fees while we are here.”

Aaron holds up a hand. “That won't be necessary Robert. This one is pro-bono, on us.”

“But why?”

“Because of all you've done for the boy. See, I’m aware of his feelings for your family. The Curtis's are quite important to Jonathan. And you do realize, he’s very attached to your daughter? I would suggest she begin her trousseau.”

Mary laughs, “They're just teenagers!”

“I don't know honey, I fell for you right away. And we weren't much older.”

“Mrs. Curtis? Mary. There is something you should understand about the Moorlands. I've known four generations of them now. So I'm somewhat familiar. Jonathan's father married his highschool sweetheart, Mickie. As did his grandfather who married Julia, whose father married Sarah, a young lady he knew as a teen. Are you seeing a pattern? Other than the unfortunate loss of Jon and Mickie, they all had long successful marriages.”

“You mean, they all married as teenagers?”

“No, but they all did marry their first love whom they met as teens. The Moorlands have a way of getting it right the first time. I believe Jonathan and Shelby are no exception.”

A month later on her 17th birthday Shelby returns home triumphantly with her driver's license. For her the triumph of passing the driver's test pales in comparison to the “F” on the license under “gender”.

This is another one of those topics I've struggled with. I've gone back and forth on multiple revisions of how the firm would present Shelby's case. I finally settled on the original draft with some elements from a later version.

v/r
JM