Category: Gender Science

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Positive Movement By American Academy of Pediatrics & Others

From the Wall Street Journal.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, the nation’s premier association of pediatricians, plans to review the evidence for gender-affirming medical care and potentially amend its policies that help guide doctors and clinicians providing the treatment to transgender youth. 

The exact scope of the review has yet to be determined, but is expected to include an evaluation of medical interventions such as puberty blockers and hormones, which are in some cases used to delay puberty or boost physical features associated with a gender different from the patient’s sex at birth. 

The process, known as a systematic evidence review, typically looks at all relevant evidence behind any given treatment, adjusting for bias and other potential flaws. It will be conducted by an external organization, the AAP said. 

In a related matter.

PSH are Puberty Suppressing Hormones aka Puberty Blockers

Another change of mind about puberty blockers. (Good God. What was he thinking to begin with.)

“I’ve changed my mind based on the evidence; it’s really not a pause for the vast majority of young people,” he said.

Dr. Stathis, who is medical director of Child and Youth Mental Health Service at Children’s Health Queensland, was referring to Dutch and English data showing that almost all of the young patients started on blockers went on to cross-sex hormones, which have irreversible effects. 

Blockers have often been promoted as a “no regrets” option giving a child time to mature and consider the weighty decision whether to progress to lifelong hormones.

Dr. Stathis, a child and adolescent psychiatrist who founded the gender clinic at the Queensland Children’s Hospital where patient numbers rose from 48 in 2014 to 635 in 2021, made the remarks on July 23 during a lengthy presentation at a conference of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) in Cairns, Queensland.

Dr. Stathis appears to be one of the first gender-affirming clinicians to publicly accept the findings of systematic reviews in Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom since 2019 that the evidence base for medical transition of minors is of low quality and very uncertain.

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I Feel The ‘Earth’ Moving

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Experts Dispute US Gender Transition Methods

An article titled “21 International Experts Dispute Prevailing US Gender Transition Methods” published by The Epoch Times on July 15, 2023, discusses the concerns raised by 21 clinicians and researchers from nine countries regarding the current treatment methods for gender dysphoria in the United States. These experts argue that the best available evidence does not support the use of sex-change procedures, particularly for minors. They criticize the Endocrine Society’s endorsement of hormone treatments that block puberty in minors, stating that the evidence for mental health benefits from such interventions is of low or very low certainty.

The experts’ concerns were prompted by the Endocrine Society’s criticism of an op-ed that questioned a federal court ruling which struck down an Arkansas law banning sex-change procedures for minors. The court ruling relied on the Endocrine Society’s guidelines, which are based on low-quality evidence and influenced by transgender activists.

In response to these criticisms, the Endocrine Society’s president, Dr. Stephen Hammes, defended the guidelines, stating they were developed through a rigorous process and based on extensive evidence. He argued that more than 2000 studies since 1975 show that gender-affirming care improves the well-being of transgender and gender-diverse people and reduces the risk of suicide.

However, the group of international experts disputes this claim, stating that the best available evidence does not support the assertion that sex-change procedures improve well-being. They argue that the risks of such procedures, which include sterility, lifelong dependence on medication, and regret, are significant, while the benefits are very low.

They also contradict the claim that gender transition reduces suicides, stating that there is no reliable evidence to support this, and call for medical societies to align their recommendations with the best available evidence, cautioning against exaggerating benefits and minimizing risks.

Companion Posts

The Affirm OR Suicide Mantra
Suicide Shock & Study Correction

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