Posted by Anonymous on 2014/11/08 under Kids I don’t even know where to start. My wife and I devoted 20 years to raising our son, who was diagnosed at a young age as having Asperger’s Syndrome. Raising him was never easy, but we were always there for him and his well-being was our top priority. Since he was small, I told him that I would pay for his college education so that he would have no debt. After a year at school, he informed us that he was transgendered and wanted to transition to being female. He also assumed we would cover all of the costs involved. We are not wealthy by any means. I started saving for his college fund when he was one year old and I could only put away $50 a month. When we would not agree to paying for all of the associated expenses–I am two years from retirement– and indicated that we wanted to be involved in his decision, he cut off all contact with us. He has such a complicated history–autism, emotional instability, talk of suicide–that we wanted him to be certain about this before proceeding. We did tell him from the very beginning that whatever he decided to do, we would love him and he would always be welcome at home, a sentiment that didn’t mean anything to him. After two counselor visits he was given the green light to transition and began taking hormones. My son was tall and handsome and is very smart. Despite this, he struggled socially from the time he was a small child. Now he looks neither male nor female, his hair is a terrible mess, and he is wearing clothes that I would never want to see my daughter wear. Can you imagine how difficult his social life is now? He finally re-established contact with me a couple of weeks ago, but he won’ let me help him. His apartment, which we are paying $1100 a month for, is a shambles. I really think he is mentally ill, possibly with bipolar 2 disorder, but I can’t get him to see a counselor with me, even a counselor of his choosing. The worst of it, though is that he is posting a lot of statements online indicating that he is planning to end his life. I just don’t know what to do and I feel so helpless.