'Mum, I want to be a boy' - Hunter and his mum talk about his coming out as a transgender man

A mother and son have shared their story of the youngster coming out as a transgender man. 

Hunter and his mum Dee, who are appearing in an ad campaign as part of Pride Month, told TVNZ1’s Breakfast that they were on the way to the doctors when he told her.

"Hunter was really down and I said you need to tell them everything" to which Hunter replied, “I want to be a boy”.

“I said well fine, you need to be honest, that’s all I can say for now. It was after I dropped him back home that I just burst into tears, she says.

“I tried to get it in my head what was happening to be able to support him and give him what he needed."

She said the way she dealt with him transitioning was the realisation that he needed support.

“You need to support, you need to talk and you need to love.”

She said the hardest part was telling their friends.

“We were nervous about telling people because it’s a subject that people are scared of.”

In the ad Dee says, “I thought I was losing a daughter but what I didn’t realise was I was gaining a son.”

Hunter says finally being able to get it out lifted a massive weight of his shoulders.

“From that day I started to become happier.”

He says he is so proud of his mum for all the support she has given him.

“She’s taken it like a trooper.”