Mom breaks down in federal court over Florida law that would prevent her from completing 12-year-old child's sex change

A mother took the stand anonymously in a federal court on Wednesday and wept over a Florida law that prevents her from giving her 12-year-old child puberty-blocking drugs and cross-sex hormones.

The pediatrician's diagnosis came after the toddler "began gravitating towards girls' toys and clothes." The mom said that as a toddler, her child screamed and tore at his clothes on the way to preschool. This was further evidence, apparently, of the child being born in the wrong body.

After a law went into place in Florida to protect children like this anon mom's, she complained that she would not be legally allowed to continue to lie to her child about her child's sex and gender. The child is now 12 years old and has been told since the age of 3 that he is a girl.

The child's mother claimed that "her daughter went from being anxious and upset to a thriving, happy straight-A student after being allowed to live as a girl about eight years ago," per NBC. She told the court that her child is fearful of puberty and growing up as a male.

When asked about the devastating risks that come with puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, such as infertility, the mom seemed totally fine with the idea that the actions she took for her 12-year-old now could lead to a life devoid of fathering children.

"The benefits for my daughter far outweigh the potential of the risks. Her biggest fear is what she calls turning into a boy. I’ve assured her that won’t happen," she said.

If she is unable to provide these growth-stunting drugs to her child, she said she may have to leave Florida in order to obtain them elsewhere. The child's father is an officer in the Navy and was party to the decision to tell the child that he is a girl and not a boy, despite being male.

"I will go to the end of the Earth to get my daughter the help she needs," the mom said through tears. "I think about, will our family get torn apart? Will we have to live somewhere else away from my husband?"

Another side-effect of cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers when given to males is that they will never be able to achieve an orgasm. Yet for this mother, making sure her son looks like a girl and is perceived by others as a girl is more important than his sexual function or fertility.

The family is part of a suit brought by "a class of transgender adults and minors" who are backed by the GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and Southern Legal Counsel.

Redburn has been joined by Maya Ginsburg on the case to force Florida to allow child sex changes. The case is before the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals and the attorneys are asking the court to uphold a lower court ruling that blocked Florida's law against child sex changes from going into place.

They argued in a November 6 brief that the ban against child sex changes is "motivated by purposeful discrimination against transgender people."

"Even if a transgender adolescent, their parents, and their healthcare providers all agree that the treatment is vital to the adolescent's health and well-being, and even though these treatments are part of the accepted standard of care in appropriate cases, the bans make it illegal regardless of individual medical need," the brief stated.

Many states have enacted laws to safeguard kids from dangerous medical procedures like puberty blockers, cross sex hormones, and surgeries. Proponents of sex changes for minors claim they are lifesaving, saying that if kids are not allowed to undergo sex changes they will kill themselves.

The other reason many doctors give in support of sex changes for minors is so that when that minor is an adult, they will look more like the sex they wished they were as children.

Lawsuits brought against states that have passed legislation to protect minors are backed by big not-for-profits like the ACLU, GLAD, and the Human Rights Campaign.