Dominique is a gender-neutral name in French, given to both boys and girls. In this book, the name is given to a baby born in 2002.

France, the infant’s mother, is the only descendant of a line of women who all gave birth – at a very young age, and not always by choice – to a baby girl… As an idealistic but perhaps unrealistic young woman, France wanted this baby, but she refuses to impose on it the sex that nature granted it.

So France will go out of her way to allow her child the liberty of defining its own gender however it pleases. France means well: allowing the baby to develop its own personality, without being molded by social stereotypes… But the project spirals almost out of control – it’s amazing how much discipline it takes to raise a child without reference to gender!

The novel ends in 2014, at a decisive point in the life of Dominique, who is now 12 years old.

This short, funny book, which maintains the suspense about Dominique’s true gender to the very last page, is anything but a philosophical treatise. Instead, it contains a multiplication of mistaken identities and drolly incongruous scenes that make us notice some unexpected realities of life.

Freely choosing one’s gender: the trials and tribulations of a family in Utopia.