A couple have told how they're raising their baby as gender-neutral because they want to protect the child from "unconscious bias". Hobbit Humphrey, 38, and Jake England-Johns, 35, appeared on BBC One's Inside Out last night and told of how their dress their baby Anoush in both girls and boys clothes.
The couple are both circus performers and live on a house boat in Kensham near Bath.
While dressing Anoush in both colours can confuse passersby, the couple believe it's the right choice for their family.
Anoush's paternal grandmother didn't discover their gender until she changed their nappy at 11-months.
Their baby will decide its own pronoun and gender when it's older (Image: BBC) Hobbit Humphrey, 38, and Jake England-Johns, 35, appeared on BBC One's Inside Out (Image: BBC) Read More Dad 'killed his wife and four kids before storing bodies for several weeks' Hobbit and Jake have asked family members and friends to use gender neutral pronouns 'they' and 'them' when speaking or addressing their child.
Speaking on the BBC programme, the couple said Anoush - whose name was changed to Charlie during the show - can decide their own gender and preferred pronoun when they're older.
Mr England-Johns said: "Gender neutral refers to us trying to behave neutrally towards the child, rather than trying to make them neutral.
"We're not trying to make them be anything. We just want them to be themselves."
Hobbit Humphrey added: "So much of gender bias is unconscious. When I got pregnant we then were having a discussion about how we were going to mitigate the unconscious bias.
"And we figured that the only way we could do that was just not to tell people.
"To use the they/them pronoun for as long as we can, and create this little bubble for our baby to be who they are.
"Eventually they will get told by somebody that pink is only for girls and blue is only for boys, and you can't play with that because you are a particular sex.
One grandparent didn't discover baby's gender until they were were 11-months (Image: BBC) Read More Baby born so premature her head was size of satsuma makes miracle recovery "That's still a thing that happens these days. We're just trying to protect Anoush from that."
Mr Humprey's mum Camille, 64, discovered the tot's gender when she changed its nappy when the baby was 11-months-old.
She said: "It was a struggle... but as with any learning over time it became embedded and they became 'they'."
Mr England-Johns added: "We are quite good now at holding space for people's discomfort in us saying, ''Actually, we don't tell anyone, we're not telling anyone for now''. We're just letting Anoush be a baby.
"Anoush is the most lovely little human. They're into everything, they're really active — just a delight."
Ms Humphrey said: "It was tricky at first when not only were we new parents, but also new parents who had the problem of people getting upset about our baby being gender neutral.
Jake and Hobbi want to protect their child from 'unconscious bias' (Image: BBC) Read More Top news stories from Mirror Online Mum found in lounge 11 days after dying Inside UK city's most crime-ridden area 'My husband raped me every week' Mum who only ever eats cheese sandwiches "But in the end it has proven to be a really beautiful thing and we've had a lot of important conversations from it.
"It has had the effect we wanted, of letting our baby develop its own interests regardless of gender. So, for example, while they love having a doll's tea party every morning, they also are really fascinated by motorbikes and machinery.
"Eventually once our baby is old enough, they can obviously decide for themselves what gender they want to be, but for now we just want them to be able to grow up in their own little bubble."
