Charlize Theron Confirms Her 7-Year-Old Is Transgender: “Who They Want To Be Is Not For Me To Decide”

Actress-producer Charlize Theron says her 7-year-old male-born child, Jackson, is transgender.

“Yes, I thought she was a boy, too,” Theron told The Daily Mail, “Until she looked at me when she was three years old and said: ‘I am not a boy!’”

“So there you go! I have two beautiful daughters who, just like any parent, I want to protect, and I want to see thrive,” the “Long Shot” star shared. “They were born who they are and exactly where in the world both of them get to find themselves as they grow up, and who they want to be is not for me to decide.” Theron says she went on to dress her daughter as a girl to celebrate who she is.

“My job as a parent is to celebrate them and to love them and to make sure that they have everything they need in order to be what they want to be,” she continued, “and I will do everything in my power for my kids to have that right and to be protected within that.” Theron says her mother is who influenced her accepting and loving ways.

“You know, I grew up in [South Africa] where people lived with half-truths and lies and whispers, and nobody said anything outright, and I was raised very specifically not to be like that,” Theron explained. “I was taught by my mom that you have to speak up; you have to be able to know that, when this life is over, you’ll have lived the truth you’re comfortable with, and that nothing negative can come from that.”

Theron, 43, adopted Jackson back in 2012, and her daughter August three years later. She says adoption was always important to her. “Even when I was in relationships, I was always honest with my partners, that adoption was how my family would look one day,” she previously told People. “This was definitely not a second option for me. It was always my first.”