Red Mosquito

Bi_3 wrote:And as for doctors:

Spoiler: show

Bi_3 wrote:Psychological conditions like GD are not like a sore throat, they require long periods of evaluation and support as the child's mind and body develop. Once the person has worked through it with the doctors and is mature enough to understand themselves and are able to comprehend and consent to the risks and benefits, then medical transition should be considered.

B wrote:

Bi_3 wrote:Psychological conditions like GD are not like a sore throat, they require long periods of evaluation and support as the child's mind and body develop. Once the person has worked through it with the doctors and is mature enough to understand themselves and are able to comprehend and consent to the risks and benefits, then medical transition should be considered.

Refusing treatment carries risks and benefits as well. Why do you think you are better equipped to weigh these risks than the families that are dealing with GD?

Bi_3 wrote:But I've never claimed anything like I know better.

B wrote:

Bi_3 wrote:But I've never claimed anything like I know better.

Ah, but you do. You're not in this thread endorsing better communication or regulation. You're endorsing eliminating puberty blockers an an option. That's an option that trans-persons, parents, and doctors all say that they need to have. You've never met these families, but you know that they are deciding incorrectly.

YOU feel that the risk of infertility is too great, but a family dealing with gender identity issues might come to a different conclusion.

Bi_3 wrote:But as for families.... I actually do think that trained, impartial outsiders should mediate decisions like this and not simply give the family what they demand. I am not one of them which why I value that perspective so highly. It's kinda the fundamental principle behind psychiatry and therapy.

I am a 42-year-old St. Louis native, a queer woman, and politically to the left of Bernie Sanders. My worldview has deeply shaped my career. I have spent my professional life providing counseling to vulnerable populations: children in foster care, sexual minorities, the poor.

For almost four years, I worked at The Washington University School of Medicine Division of Infectious Diseases with teens and young adults who were HIV positive. Many of them were trans or otherwise gender nonconforming, and I could relate: Through childhood and adolescence, I did a lot of gender questioning myself. I’m now married to a trans man, and together we are raising my two biological children from a previous marriage and three foster children we hope to adopt.

All that led me to a job in 2018 as a case manager at The Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children's Hospital, which had been established a year earlier.

The center’s working assumption was that the earlier you treat kids with gender dysphoria, the more anguish you can prevent later on. This premise was shared by the center’s doctors and therapists. Given their expertise, I assumed that abundant evidence backed this consensus.

During the four years I worked at the clinic as a case manager—I was responsible for patient intake and oversight—around a thousand distressed young people came through our doors. The majority of them received hormone prescriptions that can have life-altering consequences—including sterility.

I left the clinic in November of last year because I could no longer participate in what was happening there. By the time I departed, I was certain that the way the American medical system is treating these patients is the opposite of the promise we make to “do no harm.” Instead, we are permanently harming the vulnerable patients in our care.

Today I am speaking out. I am doing so knowing how toxic the public conversation is around this highly contentious issue—and the ways that my testimony might be misused. I am doing so knowing that I am putting myself at serious personal and professional risk....

....

Bi_3 wrote:

We can do better.

Feminizing hormone therapy might limit your fertility. If possible, it's best to make decisions about fertility before starting treatment. The risk of permanent infertility increases with long-term use of hormones. That is particularly true for those who start hormone therapy before puberty begins. Even after stopping hormone therapy, your testicles might not recover enough to ensure conception without infertility treatment.

If you want to have biological children, talk to your health care provider about freezing your sperm before you start feminizing hormone therapy. That procedure is called sperm cryopreservation.

Bi_3 wrote: clear language exactly what is happening at these centers to young people in desperate need of help.

B wrote:

Bi_3 wrote: clear language exactly what is happening at these centers to young people in desperate need of help.

No it doesn't. It's a vague overgeneralization.

Bi_3 wrote:

B wrote:

Bi_3 wrote: clear language exactly what is happening at these centers to young people in desperate need of help.

No it doesn't. It's a vague overgeneralization.

There are literally screenshots of emails between the clinic and parents. What more do you want?

B wrote:

Bi_3 wrote:

B wrote:

Bi_3 wrote: clear language exactly what is happening at these centers to young people in desperate need of help.

No it doesn't. It's a vague overgeneralization.

There are literally screenshots of emails between the clinic and parents. What more do you want?

Ah fair, I see there's more than you posted. Definitely, this field is failing at communicating the risks and benefits of treatment. We need to improve that process.

But you can improve that process without taking away treatment options.