A 10-year-old transgender girl from Chicago will already be a runway veteran when she hits the runway next month at New York Fashion Week — with plans to walk in Paris next year.
Noella McMaher, whose parents both identify as transgender and who has an infant sibling named “eybie,” made her NYFW debut in February as one of several trans and nonbinary models walking for Trans Clothing Company. She was the youngest person ever to participate in the event.
Noella has a vibrant social media presence and what appears to be a thriving home life with her parents, Dee McMaher, 35, and Ray McMaher, 32, who were both born biologically female but apparently no longer identify as women.
“Noella’s first show was Chicago Fashion Week at age 7,” her parent, Dee, told Forbes earlier this year. “A trans teenager told her about open auditions and she watched YouTube videos to prepare. She booked two stylists in her first audition. Since then she has been to two Chicago Fashion Weeks and a handful of smaller shows.”
Dee told Metro UK this year that Noella would “refuse to wear boys’ clothes and throw tantrums because she was so young, she knew what she wanted but didn’t have the words to say it”.
“I should have known earlier as she hated anything male, so I brought her to a gender clinic,” she added. “She blossomed once we understood her and allowed her to finally be herself.”
For anyone wondering how a child knows they’re transgender at just 10 years old, Dee said she has an answer ready.
“At the age of 2, she started telling us that she was not a boy. At age 4.5, she transitioned socially and at age 7 she transitioned legally.
“My husband and I are also transgender,” added Dee. “Noella passed long before us. She is the most confident person I know. I tell her all the time that I want to be like her when I grow up.”
In 2019, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, whose billionaire family is one of the largest donors to transgender causes in the world, signed an executive order aimed at promoting the rights of LGBTQ students in schools. Noella was among those posing by his side, wearing a pink tutu with a giant bow in her hair and a T-shirt that read: “This is what trans looks like.”
Noella and her younger brother Levi (who his parents say is a boy and wants to stay a boy) were born to Dee and Dee’s then-husband Timothy McCord, a scientist in the Chicago area.
McCord told The Post that he has no problem with Noella coming out as trans, but said he is somewhat concerned about her life as a model being too public. Dee has said that Noella will probably have gender reassignment surgery when she’s 16, and McCord said he’s not quite sure what to make of that.
“I have no words for this,” he said. “She’s not my baby anymore.”
Dee and McCord separated years ago and eventually divorced in 2019, but McCord saw the children regularly at first, he said.
He said an incident in 2016, when he grabbed Noella’s arm after she had a tantrum, destroyed the family forever and he has not seen his children since. “The next day Dee called and said, you need a break from the kids because Noella has a sprain,” he said. “Then she called back and said Noela’s arm is broken. I think you need a lawyer.”
McCord said a legal nightmare ensued, and he ended up being arrested and spending several nights in the Cook County Jail in Chicago. He said he then made the decision to plead guilty to misdemeanor child endangerment because he thought continuing the fight within the legal system would be hopeless.
He tried to resume visitation with the children, but said it was impossible.
“I tried to get back into their lives, but it ended up being very contentious and stressful for everyone,” he said. Although he said he does not believe he is guilty of what he is accused of, he decided to let Dee and her partner formally adopt the children and he relinquished all rights to them.
“I was given the opportunity to step back and let Dee’s partner adopt the children and I did so in the hope that they wouldn’t have all the stress it was causing in their lives,” he said.
McCord said he will be open if the children try to contact him when they are older.
“If they have questions, I’m here,” he said. “I’m not hard to find.”
Noella’s parents and their representatives did not return multiple emails and phone calls from The Post.
