Family

This page is for collecting resources on the topic of family that have to do with nonbinary identity.

Family and relationship words
Some nonbinary people don't feel right about being called words that give an idea of being female or male. Many words for family titles and relationships do: mother, brother, husband, girlfriend, and so on. Nonbinary people who prefer to be called by gender-neutral words can ask to be instead called parent, sibling, spouse, datemate, and so on. See the page Gender neutral language in English for a long list. This includes some new words that are not just gender-neutral, but specifically for nonbinary people only.

Being a nonbinary parent
Nonbinary Parents Day is celebrated on April 18; this date was chosen by nonbinary parent and educator Johnny Blazes.

In the US state of North Carolina, December 6 is formally recognized as Gender Expansive Parents' Day since 2020.

Nonbinary parents might also celebrate Trans Parents Day (the first Sunday of November) if they identify with the trans label. See the Holidays page for a list of other observances related to trans, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming people.

In 2021, a nonbinary transmasculine person named Krys Malcolm Belc published a book titled The Natural Mother of the Child: A Memoir of Nonbinary Parenthood.

Family trees
A diagram of a person's family is called a genogram or pedigree. These diagrams use a symbols for different kinds of people and relationships. This includes some standard symbols for a person's sex or gender. A square represents a man or boy, and a circle represents a woman or girl. The standard genogram symbol for a person whose gender is unknown is a rhombus/diamond or triangle. Some nonbinary people, if they are put into a family tree diagram, may prefer to have themselves represented by a genderless symbol.

In the Journal of Genetic Counseling in 2020, a group of scientists proposed a downward-pointing equilateral triangle to be the pedigree symbol for a nonbinary or gender questioning person, with additional markings to indicate assigned sex. However, other scientists have recommended using the rhombus/diamond, because of "the historical use of inverted triangles to designate certain prisoner groups in Nazi concentration camps".

Marriage
Nonbinary people who have a legal gender of "X" (or something else besides M or F) may face barriers to marriage, especially in places that define marriage as "between a man and a woman", as happened in Australia for intersex nonbinary person Tony Briffa. Additionally, some jurisdictions offer M and F as the only options on applications for marriage, requiring nonbinary people to misgender themselves even if they have other documents recognizing their nonbinary gender.