When Ellie turned eight years old, in many ways it was her first birthday.
White dress on, hair long — the birthday girl had a makeshift high tea at home to mark the occasion.
The age of seven had been a year of change.
"I started asking Mum if I could change my name to Ellie," she says.
These moments didn't come easy; they didn't come without dismissal, confusion and fear from those around her.
These moments had been years in the making.
"I know exactly when — I was four," Ellie says.
"I was watching Barbie and the Pink Shoes and was like 'I want to be a ballet dancer'.
"Then when I started ballet, that's when I was like, 'I want to be a girl'."
Her mum, Sacha says she wasn't ready to hear that.
"I shut her down," she says.
But now, at nine years old, Ellie is a proud transgender girl helping to break down preconceptions in her home town of Mackay in north Queensland.
'My answer to her was no'
Sacha says Ellie had always been creative, expressive and feminine — trying on costumes, raiding her mum's closet, and dancing.
"But at the age of four she started to identify [as female]," Sacha says.
"My answer to her was, 'No, you were born this way and it's OK to like pink and wear costumes and things like that, but you were born male'.
"And that was before I understood what it was to be transgender.
"It wasn't that I wasn't ready for it — I was really scared of what the rest of the family would say, what society would say.
A turning point
Both Ellie and Sacha look back on one shopping trip as a moment that changed things.
It was time to buy some winter clothes for an upcoming trip.
"Mum was going to the boy's aisle when I started crying and begging her to go to the girl's aisle," Ellie says.
"I had a really bad breakdown."
It was a confronting moment for Sacha — but it was a catalyst.
"It was around the age of seven ... after that incident at Best and Less ... we watched documentaries about trans kids and [Ellie] said 'Oh Mum, that's me'," Sacha says.
"I came across male drag queen ballerinas, and she just said, 'That's not who I am, Mum'.
"[Ellie said] I'm not a boy dressed in girl's clothes — I am a girl.
"That was the start of [thinking] I need to do my research here."
They picked out a pink and white outfit that day.
"I still wear it," Ellie says.
Ellie and Sacha started seeing the Queensland Children Hospital's Gender Service, which they said had helped a lot in their understanding of gender, identity and expression.
"I felt I needed to come to the family with professional advice," Sacha says.
"They help us to know it can change; they don't force Ellie to identify as a girl for the rest of her life.
"I've evolved as a parent — it's really important to listen to your children."
Created five years ago, the Queensland Children's Gender Service helps support the wellbeing of gender diverse young people across the state.
"We are currently seeing over 600 families across Queensland, and about 40 per cent of our referrals come from regional or remote areas," coordinator Olivia Donaghy says.
Some families are seeking accurate information and resources or counselling.
Some trans adolescents are starting a medical journey for gender-affirming treatment.
Ms Donaghy says one thing in particular trumped the importance of this kind of professional support.
"While the gender-affirming services we offer are important and necessary, the biggest protective factor for trans adolescents in terms of managing some of those difficulties is having the support, love, and care of their parents," she says.
She says a greater level of celebration and acceptance of diversity will be the thing that drives down "alarming" rates of negative mental health outcomes among trans people.
Sacha has worked to ensure her child doesn't become a face behind these grim statistics.
Ellie says her mum is supportive and happy about her transition, despite being "confused at first".
When Ellie thinks about her identity, she sums it up by saying, "If people ask me if I'm transgender, I say 'Yeah, I am' … but I normally just want to think that I'm a girl."
Transitioning in a regional town
Ellie and Sacha say their journey has been a mostly positive one — although they have been subject to judgement.
"In Mackay, we've been actually really lucky in the communities we've been a part of, the school has been so supportive," Sacha says.
She says the most judgement had come from adults.
"Parents pointing at her across the room, laughing," Sacha says.
Ellie says there are a lot of times when she feels down.
"I've gotten bullied for my decision and those are most of the times where I've felt bad … thinking it wasn't the right decision," she says.
When Ellie first wanted to identify as a girl, she thought she was alone, the only person to feel like that.
"But Mum started meeting all these people like me, tonnes of people like me, even across the world," she says.
Sacha recalls one of Ellie's birthdays prior to her transition — a time muddled with confusion about what to buy her child when toys are often gender-specific.
She opted for cash, and let Ellie pick out her own gift — a pink fairy dress costume and doll.
"She was the happiest little person," Sacha says.
Helping other families
Sacha and Ellie say the decision to speak publicly about their lives is not one they take lightly.
"Being open about our lives is difficult," Sacha says.
"But Ellie is happy with the way she expresses herself and identifies.
"The good thing is people are reaching out to us — parents who are confused."
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