Alarmism Hurts Children With Gender Dysphoria
June 13, 2023 6:24 pm ET Photo: Getty Images To Gerald Posner’s “The Truth About ‘Puberty Blockers’” (op-ed, June 8), I would add additional cautions. Emerging evidence shows that most children experiencing symptoms of gender dysphoria will have those symptoms resolve naturally, without medication or surgery, by the time they reach late adolescence or early adulthood: 67% to 93% of such children, according to a recent peer-reviewed article. For many minors, gender dysphoria may be a transient phase of exploration rather than a permanent identity. The alarmist narrative—would you rather have a living trans son or a dead daughter?—overstates and oversimplifies the complex issue of suicide risk. Multiple factors, including other psychiatric conditions, contribute to suicide risk, as does substance use and access to a gun. Suicides among patients at England’s only g
Photo: Getty Images
To Gerald Posner’s “The Truth About ‘Puberty Blockers’” (op-ed, June 8), I would add additional cautions. Emerging evidence shows that most children experiencing symptoms of gender dysphoria will have those symptoms resolve naturally, without medication or surgery, by the time they reach late adolescence or early adulthood: 67% to 93% of such children, according to a recent peer-reviewed article. For many minors, gender dysphoria may be a transient phase of exploration rather than a permanent identity.
The alarmist narrative—would you rather have a living trans son or a dead daughter?—overstates and oversimplifies the complex issue of suicide risk. Multiple factors, including other psychiatric conditions, contribute to suicide risk, as does substance use and access to a gun. Suicides among patients at England’s only gender clinic for minors weren’t statistically different in the wait-list group and in the treated group, and they were rare in both groups.
Patients with gender dysphoria are suffering and need to be treated with compassion and dignity. But as physicians, we would never prescribe weight-loss pills for patients with anorexia, or refer them for weight-loss surgery. So, why are so many in support of medications and surgery to treat patients with gender dysphoria? Both conditions are distortions of body image. Fear of being labeled transphobic, incomplete understanding of the risks and permanence of such treatments, and misinformation about the benefits are likely reasons. It is time to take seriously our promise to “do no harm” when it comes to patients with gender dysphoria.
Jason T. Kolb, M.D.
Kent, Ohio
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