Leila Bourcier draws a self-portrait at her kitchen table in Verdun on Nov. 25, 2016. Born as Lucas, Leila transitioned at the age of 7. Leila's mother Melissa remembers that "Lucas used to take our dresses and oversized t-shirts to pretend that he was a girl. He wrapped the t-shirts around his head and pretended he had long hair. That's when I knew that something was wrong."
Leila Bourcier (bottom), Jade Swan (top left) and Melissa Bourcier (right) look at baby photos of Leila when she was gendered as a boy in Verdun on Nov. 25, 2016.
A photo of Lucas Bourcier from 2009, two years before his transition as Leila.
10-year-old Leila Bourcier in her bedroom in Verdun, Quebec on Friday, November 25, 2016. Born as Lucas, Leila transitioned when she was 7 years old after visiting an event held by Gender Creative Kids, a Montreal-based non-profit offering support to trans children and their families.
Jade Swan (right), applies makeup to her sister Leila Bourcier (left) in Verdun on Nov. 25, 2016.
Leila Bourcier (right) walks home from school with her sister Jade on de l'Église street in Verdun on Dec. 2, 2016.
Leila Bourcier (left) and Paige Legresley (right) write their different fantasy character names in Paige's room in Lasalle on Dec. 4, 2016. Friends since birth, Paige says she wasn't shocked when Leila transitioned: "She always borrowed my t-shirts to wrap them around her head and pretend she was a girl, so I wasn't surprised. She was still the same person".
Paige Legresley (left) and Leila Bourcier (right) listen to eachother's heartbeats on a stethoscope in Paige's basement in Lasalle on Dec. 4, 2016.
Leila Bourcier watches a livestream of her favourite online game Animal Jam before going to sleep in Verdun on Dec. 5, 2016. Leila has developed online friendships with several youtubers whose streams she follows while playing the game. "I've never met them but I talk to them all the time."
Leila Bourcier (right) receives her daily dose of aldactone from her mother Melissa Bourcier (left) in their home in Verdun, on Dec. 6, 2016. A testosterone blocker usually given to elderly men battling prostate cancer, aldactone is also given to trans children to delay the development of male puberty.
Melissa Bourcier (right) brushes her daughter Leila's hair before they leave for school on Dec. 6, 2016. In September 2013, Leila returned to school after her summer break as a girl. "My friends were surprised and didn't recognize me, but it was ok after a couple of days"
Leila Bourcier
puts on her snow pants before going to school in Verdun on the morning of Dec.
6, 2016.
Leila Bourcier
kisses her cat Casey goodbye before going to school on Dec. 6, 2016.
Leila sits in
the backseat as her mother drives her to school in Verdun on Dec. 6,
2016.
Leila arrives at
her primary school in Verdun on Dec. 6, 2016.