Thousands of teens are being duped into believing that “gender affirming care,” a euphemism for sterilizing hormones and surgeries, will alleviate their mental suffering. Instead, it only increases it.
While other countries are pulling back on dangerous medical interventions for people with gender dysphoria, President Biden, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association and numerous other medical associations are endorsing them in the United States. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki even called gender affirming care “best practice and potentially lifesaving.” This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Yet some on the left assert that parental concern over this transgender identity push is overblown and based on what they say is false assumption: that mutilation surgeries are, in fact, being performed on children. Data shows otherwise, however. From Lisa Selin Davis:
“The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) Standards of Care 7 (which are actually recommendations) suggested that “fully irreversible” surgeries not be performed on those under 18, except for “masculinizing surgery,” which could be performed as early as 16. More proof? This study on the effects of such surgeries for kids: the youngest participants are 13.
And today, Suzi Weiss published a piece in Common Sense with the stories of several girls who’d had mastectomies as teens and came to regret them. If that doesn’t sway you, try perusing the more than 42,000 GoFundMe campaigns to raise money for top surgery.”
And our children are falling victim to the aggressive pro-transition culture on social media.
Although the left and the media ignore them, many detransitioners are speaking out about the abuse they endured by clinicians who prioritize ideology over health and safety.
One detransitioner named Julie, 27, said, “I have this intense rage in me over the harm that was done to me.” She calls her treatment a “collaborative idiocy” between her parents, therapists and doctors.
At the age of 14, Julie was given testosterone injections and a mastectomy, neither of which helped her mental distress. Then, she began experiencing heart problems due to the medical interventions, but was offered no help.
Many detransitioners like Julie complain that they were rushed through experimental procedures when all they needed was cognitive therapy and time to grow out of their confusion. Often times, adults aren’t truly listening to and helping children, but imposing their own political beliefs.
There is no way to have honest, truthful conversations about how to best treat gender dysphoric children without acknowledging these stories. The left, however, prefers to deny reality when it doesn’t serve their narrative. This is why the stories of hundreds of detransitioners remain in the dark and discussions surrounding “gender affirming care” remain dishonest.
Despite countless stories like Julie’s, new clinical guidelines for health professionals lower the ages for surgical interventions. Children as young as 15 can undergo chest masculinization, and at 16, they can receive breast augmentation and facial surgery. At 17, children qualify for metoidioplasty, orchidectomy, vaginoplasty, hysterectomy and fronto-orbital remodeling.
This is nothing less than child abuse. Children whose brains are still developing are not mature enough to make permanent, life-changing decisions about their bodies. The majority of people with gender dysphoria end up re-identifying with their biological gender and regretting the “gender affirming care” they received.
Vulnerable children are in desperate need of the truth, and detransitioners who have been abused deserve to have their stories heard.
