A government-funded study advocating sex-reassignment drugs for children as young as 12 has come under fire from experts and activists.
The research — the largest of its kind — monitored some 315 American teens with gender dysphoria who were receiving puberty blockers or hormone therapy drugs.
Results from surveys conducted every six months for two years showed that patients reported significant improvements in happiness, confidence, and anxiety.
But Patrick Brown, a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center think tank, told that the two-year study period is too brief a snapshot for young people to fully grasp the impact of change on their lives.
In the past few months, there have been a number of “switchers” who have reported that they regret taking hormone preparations or having an operation for genital reconstruction.
Patrick Brown (left), a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, said two years isn’t long enough to decide whether hormone treatment has helped these teens’ mental health. dr Jay Richards (right), senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said the study “tells us nothing”.
Mr Brown said: “Two years is far too short to make any real assessment of these types of interventions that have long-term consequences.
“It’s too early to say which participants might regret something life-changing without fully understanding its cost.”
Hormone therapy is an umbrella term for medications that increase the levels of hormones naturally produced by a person of the opposite sex and give a person desired characteristics.
Trans men receive testosterone while trans women receive estriadol.
The latest research was led by Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
It was published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).
A large part of the study group was between 14 and 18 years old at the beginning of the treatment.
Researchers report that 180 of them had previously received puberty blockers.
The participants underwent a check-up every six months for the first two years after starting hormone treatment, during which they were asked about their mental health.
On average, the teenagers’ symptoms of gender dysphoria had subsided, and they felt that their appearance more closely matched the gender they identified with.
Patients also reported feeling happier with their lives after starting treatment.
During the study period, two participants died by suicide and two others experienced severe anxiety attacks.
Sinead Watson, from Glasgow, Scotland, was a man from the age of 23 and had a double mastectomy, but realized at the age of 27 that she had made a terrible mistake and ended the transition at 28. She spoke out this week in took to social media about the widespread harassment from the transgender community who left her: “I’ve been sent rape and death threats,” wrote Watson, pictured earlier this year. “I’ve been called a hideous freak show.”
Researchers also noted reduced rates of depression and anxiety symptoms during the study period.
“Our findings provide strong scientific evidence that gender reassignment care is critical to the psychological well-being of our patients,” said Dr. Robert Garofalo, co-author of the Lurie Children’s study, in a statement.
Young people who regret trans procedures launch desperate GoFundMe bids to reclaim their birth gender
With $7,820 pledged from more than 100 donors, Prisha Mosley made more than halfway to getting what it takes to reconstruct the breasts she now regrets getting six years ago removed by a surgeon.
Like a growing number of cash-strapped young people regretting their medical gender change, the Michigan student went online to raise money to help her become the woman she started out as.
The 24-year-old from Big Rapids, who has manly broad shoulders, narrow hips, a deep voice and facial and body hair from the testosterone injections she started at age 17, still has a long way to go.
“Laser hair removal is very expensive. I’m sure the surgery will be expensive,” Mosley told .
“Doctors only want to help when you change sex, not go back. They have no idea what to do with us. There is no standard of care. There isn’t a little set of rules they can fall back on.”
Sites like GoFundMe and GiveSendDo have long been popular with young people in need who are unhappy or uncomfortable in their own skin and are seeking money for the cross-gender hormones and surgery needed to make the transition.
Many disagree with that conclusion, saying the study didn’t take long enough to make that finding.
Mr Brown said: “There is a very real possibility that is the main problem [with one’s gender and appearance] would have subsided anyway without intervention,” he continued.
He also says other types of mentoring may have also helped these young children feel more satisfied with their lives, such as counseling or other life changes.
Mr Brown also noted that some young people who may not have been happy with their care would be less likely to participate in this type of study – and not participate in follow-up interviews.
dr Jay Richards, a senior fellow at the right-wing Heritage Foundation, also expressed concerns that the study’s timeframe was not long enough.
“This tells us nothing about the long-term benefits and costs of so-called ‘gender-affirming care’.” And that’s what any serious study should focus on,” he said.
He cited the growing number of detransitioners that have emerged in recent years, with many saying years later that they wished they hadn’t started irreversible treatment as teenagers.
“We already know from widespread testimony from detransitioners and from clinical evidence that young people struggling with gender confusion and incongruity often like the initial changes induced by cross-sex hormones,” he continued.
“That’s common sense. No one should be surprised that they report this in a survey. For example, some women report feelings of euphoria when taking testosterone for the first time.”
Detransitioners like Cat Cattinson, 30, of Northern California, report being harassed online by trans activists for sharing their stories.
“I’ve seen the hatred really escalate to the point that every time a new de-transitioner tells their story online, they’re being stalked, bullied, taunted and of course threatened with murder by thousands of trans activists,” she told the DailyMail .com
“For any de-transitioner with a public platform, the new trend has been to call us liars and scammers and just try to invalidate everything we say.”
Cattinson, 30, a singer and musician, was raised a woman but was identified as a man from the age of 13.
Sinéad Watson of Scotland began her medical transition from female to male in 2015 at the age of 24 but regretted her total mastectomy and other procedures within three years. She stopped taking testosterone in 2019 when she completed the transition.
She told her 45,000 Twitter followers this week how her public statements about going back to being a woman were met with claims that she was a “liar, fake, moron and (funniest) right wing Christian sock.”
“I have been sent rape and death threats,” she wrote.
“I’ve been called a hideous freak show. Hundreds of anime and furry pfps accounts told me it’s such a pity my last suicide attempt failed. I deserve to suffer.”
However, pro-trans advocates argue that puberty blockers and hormone therapies make them feel more connected to themselves — which benefits their overall health.
Hormone therapies and gender-affirming care for minors are a highly controversial issue. Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida and Texas have prohibitions or restrictions on the practice.