The concept is utterly ridiculous: a "genderless" baby.
Yet, that's what parents Kathy Witterick and David Stocker in Toronto hope to raise -- a baby of undefined gender, free from society's "constraining" expectations.
Their baby, who bears the androgynous name "Storm," was born four months ago. Instead of the usual pink or blue birth announcement, Kathy and David sent a message to family and friends that said, "We've decided not to share Storm's sex for now -- a tribute to freedom and choice in place of limitation; a stand up to what the world could become in Storm's lifetime (a more progressive place? ...)."
And, they've kept the secret of Storm's biological gender since then, dressing him or her in ambiguous colors like red, and avoiding the use of limiting pronouns.
The parents believe that by acknowledging the child as male or female, they will be limiting Storm's ability to "discover for him/herself what s(he) wants to be."
Once Storm is old enough to define who he or she is, then the parents will honor that choice. Until then, they refuse to divulge whether Storm is male or female. The parents, however, have revealed the baby's sex to Storm's two brothers, Jazz (5) and Kio (2).
No worries that Jazz or Kio will relate to Storm in stereotypical fashion; they are far too busy defining their own gender identities.
Jazz, for example, wears his hair in three long braids, likes dresses, and wears nail polish. Kio prefers the color purple, and he too wears his hair long.
The parents admit that this gender self-definition can be difficult for the kids -- most people assume Jazz and Kio are girls, which upsets Jazz. Although sometimes he doesn't correct people who think he's a girl, other times he wants his mother to tell people that he is indeed a boy.
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