What to do if you suspect your child is gay

What can you do if you suspect that your child is gay? Mother of two, Lynette Vertoch, gives great advice for parents who might feel like their child is gay or having trouble discussing it.
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What to do if you suspect your child is gay

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If you suspect your child is gay, depending on the type of relationship you have, you might ask them directly. I think a lot of teenagers are just going to shut that down, but some might not. It might be just by doing things to let them know that you would be supportive without being that direct with them, with a teenager would might not easier way to handle it. I have a friend whose mom left him a really sweet letter on his pile of clothes one day. Twenty years later and he still cries when he tells me the story meant so much to him, but he knows that she would have just come up and talk to me, but I said, “No, no, no, I'm not.” I think you know your child best. We all know our children best and how they are going to respond. My son came and told us when he was very young, but you know your child and probably the best way to reach them whether it is in a letter, whether it’s through dropping hints, whether it is just through just going and being very direct, but you have to find the way to start communicating some form as early as you can, so that they know that you’re there for them. They know that they have support at home, because without that, it’s pretty rough out there. We need to give that to them at home first.

What can you do if you suspect that your child is gay? Mother of two, Lynette Vertoch, gives great advice for parents who might feel like their child is gay or having trouble discussing it.

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Lynette Vertoch

Mom & Entrepreneur

Lynette Vertoch is an entrepreneur with a small company she runs with her husband in Seattle, called Cameos & Crowns. In her words, the company designs "these very cool dish towels, pillows, cosmetic bags and aprons."  She has two children, Harris, 16 and Izzy, 13. Harris is gay and Izzy is not. She is divorced from their dad and married to a wonderful man who has been their stepdad for seven years now.  She and her ex-husband and current husband all parent the kids together (even though they live in different states) and are all close as a family - they even vacation together.

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