Set up Apple ID for 12 year old (parents without Apple device)

My child is 12, very nearly 13, and I'm trying to set up their new iPhone. Because they are under 13, I am told I need to do this via my Apple ID, and set up Family Sharing. So I log into my Apple ID account online (via web page on desktop browser) since I do not have any Apple device. Search for ages, no Family Sharing option anywhere in sight! Maybe need to enter payment information, which I do. Still nothing about Family Sharing, or adding a family member. Speak to Apple support, and they say it needs to be set up using an Apple device... seriously?? Is this *really* how some guys in Apple thought it should work? Can't set up your child's iPhone without having an iPhone yourself? Really? I am seriously unimpressed. I'd like to do this the right way, without just using a fake date of birth for my child to prevent me wasting any further hours of my life, which I will never get back, so please tell me there is a way... there MUST be. Surely. Surely?