Father of a trans son. Ethnicity: White English. Ross's son came out to him at age 12 as Gender flui (questioning his gender) about age thirteen his son had decided that he needed to transition. When his son came out, aged 12 he did not necessarily understand his gender problems so started researching and educating himself on gender issues. At the age of 13 his son explained that he was trans. Ross's son has had multiple challenges in relation to his non supporting mum and also from prolonged bullying at school. His son is doing a lot better now since he has started hormone therapy. The charity Mermaids was a great resource for Ross to help support his son when he was going through these challenges.

Mother of a trans son. Ethnicity: White British. Georgina's child started presenting as a male at around three years of age. He had a real preference for stereotypically masculine clothes and for anything blue. As he got slightly older and began going to school, her son started asking when he could go to the doctor and get boy bitsGeorgina is concerned that her ex-husband and father of their trans child may stop aspects of his medical transition as he has expressed disapproval in the past. When she expressed these concerns to the medical professionals, they said that they will put the child's needs first. But, Georgina is unconvinced that this will mean that the medical transition will go ahead smoothly.

Mother of a trans daughter. Ethnicity: White British. Josie's daughter came out as trans to her at about fifteen years of age. When she first learnt about her daughter's trans identity, Josie became very worried about her mental health. She had a very medicalised view of being trans. However, Josie's understanding of her daughter and being trans has changed and she now sees it as another expression of human gender. Josie's daughter's experience in the children's gender identity service was productive at first. She was able to explore her gender identity and her pronouns were respected. However, this soon changed as the appointments became redundant and there seemed to be no end goal. Her daughter really wanted hormone therapy, but the service were not willing to oblige and told her she had to present more feminine before being eligible. Things improved when Josie's daughter moved into the care of adult gender identity services.

Mother of a trans daughter. Ethnicity: White British. Jan realised that something was affecting her teenage daughter when she was about fifteen or sixteen years old but did not understand what that was. When her daughter was eighteen years old she messaged Jan saying that she needed to talk to her. Jan thought that her daughter was going to come out as gay. However, shortly after the first message she received another message that had been stored on her daughter's phone for about two years, which explained that she was trans. Jan has had trouble with getting adequate medical care for her daughter. This has resulted in her seeking private care for her daughter in order to preserve and protect her mental and emotional wellbeing.

Mother of a young trans daughter. Ethnicity: White British. At the time of the interview, Oonagh's daughter socially transitioned a a year and a half ago. Previous to her social transition, her daughter was identifying as gender non-conforming. Oonagh was not phased when her daughter was identifying this way because she always thought of her as being a little bit differen. As her daughter got older Oonagh considered that she may be experiencing gender dysphoria, but at the time she did not have the knowledge or words to describe her daughter as trans.

Mother of a young trans daughter. Ethnicity: White British. It took quite some time for Ali's daughter to come out to her. When she eventually did, Ali was so relieved and immediately tried to support her even though she felt unsure what support services were out there. At first, Ali felt she could not relate to comments that she would feel grief over her child's transition. However, after a year she suddenly felt intense bereavement over the fact that she could not display old photos of her daughter pre-transition. However, she now feels she knows her daughter better and wishes she could have supported her sooner.

Mother of a trans daughter. Ethnicity: White British. VM was told by her daughter about three or four years ago, as an adult, that she thought she was transgender. When her daughter told her about her trans identity, she did not expect it and thought that she was going to come out as gay instead. It took a while to accept her daughter's gender identity and to get the pronouns correct. But VM and her daughter maintained a relationship and feel much closer now. When asked what positives have come from her daughter's trans journey, she says that she now understands a lot more about trans identities and experiences.

Eisha is part of a cohort study which followed her third pregnancy. She then became a representative on the project and, in a subproject, trained as a doula. Her involvement has made her more aware of the difficulties her community faces.

• Healthy volunteers and birth cohort studies

Rafi and Iram are part of a cohort study. They were motivated to join the study to help Iram's mental health. Rafi believes that Iram's mental wellbeing has improved since joining the study.

• Healthy volunteers and birth cohort studies