Rating: Transsupportive, Gender Menace, September 9, 2023 (PDF archive) (HTML archive)
An article entitled “Transgender Interventions Harm Children” on the website of the anti-transgender, pseudo-scientific American College of Pediatricians contains several claims that are either misleading or unsupported by the current scientific consensus. Let’s address each claim with specific rebuttals and citations to reputable sources:
Claim 1: There is not a single long-term study to demonstrate the safety or efficacy of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries for transgender-believing youth.
Rebuttal: This claim is inaccurate. While it’s true that there may not be an extensive number of long-term studies, there is existing research that supports the safety and efficacy of these interventions. The Endocrine Society’s clinical guidelines (Hembree et al., 2017) and WPATH’s Standards of Care (Coleman et al., 2022) provide evidence-based recommendations for transgender healthcare.
Claim 2: Puberty blockers may cause mental illness.
Rebuttal: The assertion that puberty blockers cause mental illness is not substantiated by the scientific literature. Lupron, the puberty blocker mentioned, is used for various medical conditions and monitored carefully by healthcare providers. The claim also selectively references one study without considering the broader body of research. The safety and effectiveness of puberty blockers are discussed in WPATH’s Standards of Care and have been deemed acceptable for appropriately selected individuals.
Claim 3: Puberty blockers may cause permanent physical harm.
Rebuttal: While long-term effects are still an area of study, the claim that puberty blockers cause permanent physical harm is misleading. The potential risks of puberty blockers are well-documented in medical literature, but the consensus is that when used under medical supervision, these risks are manageable. Puberty blockers have been used safely in the treatment of precocious puberty for decades (Neely & Crossen, 2014).
Claim 4: Cross-sex hormones may disrupt mental health.
Rebuttal: The assertion that cross-sex hormones inevitably disrupt mental health is overly simplistic. The impact of hormones on mental health is multifaceted and varies among individuals. Research has shown that gender-affirming hormone therapy can lead to improved mental health outcomes for transgender individuals (Baker et al., 2021). Any potential risks are typically outweighed by the benefits for those who are appropriately assessed and monitored by healthcare professionals.
Claim 5: Other health risks are correlated with puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.
Rebuttal: This claim conflates temporary and rare side effects with common outcomes. While any medical intervention carries some risk, the overall safety profile of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones is considered acceptable when administered under appropriate medical supervision (Hembree et al., 2017). The assertion that transgender youth are being subjected to unnecessary surgeries without thorough evaluation is not supported by established guidelines or ethical standards.
Claim 6: Transgender interventions for children are experimental and dangerous.
Rebuttal: Leading medical organizations, including the American Medical Association and the American Psychological Association, support gender-affirming care for transgender youth. While more research is needed to fully understand the long-term effects of these interventions, characterizing them as “experimental and dangerous” is not consistent with the consensus within the medical community.
In summary, the claims made in the American College of Pediatricians article are not supported by the scientific consensus or reputable medical guidelines. Gender-affirming care for transgender individuals is a complex and evolving field, and healthcare decisions should be made in consultation with qualified medical professionals who follow established standards of care.
(composed with the assistance of ChatGPT)
Original Article
Transgender Interventions Harm Children
No Evidence that Transgender Interventions are Safe for Children
American College of Pediatricians (possibly no longer available at that website)
There is not a single long-term study to demonstrate the safety or efficacy of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgeries for transgender-believing youth. This means that youth transition is experimental, and therefore, parents cannot provide informed consent, nor can minors provide assent for these interventions. Moreover, the best long-term evidence we have among adults shows that medical intervention fails to reduce suicide.
Puberty blockers may cause mental illness
Puberty blockers may actually cause depression and other emotional disturbances related to suicide. In fact, the package insert for Lupron, the number one prescribed puberty blocker in America, lists “emotional instability” as a side effect and warns prescribers to “Monitor for development or worsening of psychiatric symptoms during treatment.” Similarly, discussing an experimental trial of puberty blockers in the U.K., Oxford University Professor Michael Biggs wrote, “There was no statistically significant difference in psychosocial functioning between the group given blockers and the group given only psychological support. In addition, there is unpublished evidence that after a year on [puberty blockers] children reported greater self-harm, and the girls also experienced more behavioral and emotional problems and expressed greater dissatisfaction with their body—so puberty blockers exacerbated gender dysphoria.”
Puberty blockers may cause permanent physical harm
Temporary use of Lupron has also been associated with and may be the cause of many serious permanent side effects including osteoporosis, mood disorders, seizures, cognitive impairment and, when combined with cross-sex hormones, sterility.
Cross-sex hormones (testosterone for women; estrogen for men) may disrupt mental health
Women who identify as men are given enough testosterone to raise their levels 10-40 times above the female reference range. Past studies have documented multiple psychiatric problems with similar high doses of anabolic steroids like testosterone such that 23% of subjects met DSM criteria for a major mood syndrome such as mania, hypomania, and major depression, and 3.4-12% developed psychotic symptoms. Estrogen also impacts mood in complex ways. Post menopausal women treated with estrogen often experience severe anxiety despite being placed on physiologic doses of the hormone. Men who identify as women are given supraphysiologic doses of estrogen; theoretically, this has the potential to worsen both depression and anxiety.
Other health risks are correlated with puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones
Temporary use of puberty blocker Lupron has also been associated with and may be the cause of many serious permanent side effects including osteoporosis, mood disorders, seizures, cognitive impairment and, when combined with cross-sex hormones, sterility. In addition to the harm from Lupron, cross-sex hormones put youth at an increased risk of heart attacks, stroke, diabetes, blood clots and cancers across their lifespan. Add to this the fact that physically healthy transgender-believing girls are being given double mastectomies at 13 and hysterectomies at 16, while their male counterparts are referred for surgical castration and penectomies at 16 and 17, respectively, and it becomes clear that affirming transition in children is about mutilating and sterilizing emotionally troubled youth.
Transgender interventions for children are experimental and dangerous
Many medical organizations around the world, including the Australian College of Physicians, the Royal College of General Practitioners in the United Kingdom, and the Swedish National Council for Medical Ethics have characterized these interventions in children as experimental and dangerous. World renowned Swedish psychiatrist Dr. Christopher Gillberg has said that pediatric transition is “possibly one of the greatest scandals in medical history” and called for “an immediate moratorium on the use of puberty blocker drugs because of their unknown long-term effects.”
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