More Children Seek Help for Gender Dysphoria
More Children Seek Help for Gender Dysphoria
“Look at the media. Look at TV programs,” Spack says. “Basically, I look at article after article and they’re generally informative and understanding, and they add to the knowledge base. They appear to get it…” that being transgender isn’t a mental illness, he says, but a medical one that can lead to mental issues.
Leslie Lagerstrom, Sam’s mother, agrees. She writes a popular blog called TransParenthood about raising children who are questioning their gender.
“I think you’re seeing this more and more, and people are talking about it more and it’s all good. Because that’s how you bring down those stigmas,” she says.
“It’s going to help people like my son,” she says.
By age 11, Sam was taking a powerful estrogen-blocking drug called leuprolide to delay puberty.
The thinking is that giving gender-dysphoric children puberty-blockers can help buy them a little more time to be sure about their feelings.
It can also help prevent the development of sex characteristics -- breasts or a period in transgender boys, an Adam’s apple or voice change in transgender girls -- that can be hard to undo with hormones or surgery.
But critics of this approach point out that most children who disavow their sex are going through a phase. There have always been girls who are tomboys and boys who prefer to play with dolls instead of dump trucks.
“We know that it’s normal for children to play in a different gender role on and off during childhood,” Spack says. Even for kids who spend almost all their time acting and living as the opposite gender, there’s a good chance they’ll grow out of it. They may eventually be gay.
“If you sum all those kids together, only about 20% will end up being transgender,” he says.
The problem is that there’s no way to tell which kids will continue to feel disoriented and distressed as they grow older, and which will some day make peace with their gender.
More Children Seek Help for Gender Dysphoria
Knocking Down Stigmas continued...
“Look at the media. Look at TV programs,” Spack says. “Basically, I look at article after article and they’re generally informative and understanding, and they add to the knowledge base. They appear to get it…” that being transgender isn’t a mental illness, he says, but a medical one that can lead to mental issues.
Leslie Lagerstrom, Sam’s mother, agrees. She writes a popular blog called TransParenthood about raising children who are questioning their gender.
“I think you’re seeing this more and more, and people are talking about it more and it’s all good. Because that’s how you bring down those stigmas,” she says.
“It’s going to help people like my son,” she says.
Early Treatment
By age 11, Sam was taking a powerful estrogen-blocking drug called leuprolide to delay puberty.
The thinking is that giving gender-dysphoric children puberty-blockers can help buy them a little more time to be sure about their feelings.
It can also help prevent the development of sex characteristics -- breasts or a period in transgender boys, an Adam’s apple or voice change in transgender girls -- that can be hard to undo with hormones or surgery.
But critics of this approach point out that most children who disavow their sex are going through a phase. There have always been girls who are tomboys and boys who prefer to play with dolls instead of dump trucks.
“We know that it’s normal for children to play in a different gender role on and off during childhood,” Spack says. Even for kids who spend almost all their time acting and living as the opposite gender, there’s a good chance they’ll grow out of it. They may eventually be gay.
“If you sum all those kids together, only about 20% will end up being transgender,” he says.
The problem is that there’s no way to tell which kids will continue to feel disoriented and distressed as they grow older, and which will some day make peace with their gender.
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