Care of the Child with the Desire to Change Genders -- Part I
Care of the Child with the Desire to Change Genders -- Part I
This is Part I of a three-part series on children and young adults who desire to live as a gender different from which they were born. The series depicts the psychosocial, medical, and surgical components of transitioning from one gender to another. The medical and psychosocial issues of transgender change are complex, and ethical questions may be raised by those who would challenge these choices. Pediatric nurses will be best able to care for these patients with awareness of the multiple dimensions of these procedures and the ramifications of caring for these children and their families.
In May 2007, Barbara Walters aired a television program on 20/20 called "My Secret Self." This program, still available in five parts on YouTube, depicts the lives of two young children who from birth informed their parents that they had the wrong genitalia for the gender that they were. Both Jesica and Riley, born with male external genitalia, were by two years old choosing to dress and live as girls. They clearly told their parents that "God had made a mistake" and that they were girl children. Another 16-year-old adolescent on the show, born as a girl, at 14 wrote his parents a letter and told them that he was absolutely in the wrong body and planned to begin to live as the young man that he was. Barbara Walters interviewed these children and their parents with dignity. The Walters special is a good accompaniment to this series of articles, which will inform the readers of Pediatric Nursing on the heath care needs of the transgender child. This three-part series will discuss the current status of the transgender child and hormonal treatments used to suppress and transition gender. Parts II and III will discuss transgender surgeries and the barriers transgender individuals face in obtaining health care.
Abstract and Introduction
Abstract
This is Part I of a three-part series on children and young adults who desire to live as a gender different from which they were born. The series depicts the psychosocial, medical, and surgical components of transitioning from one gender to another. The medical and psychosocial issues of transgender change are complex, and ethical questions may be raised by those who would challenge these choices. Pediatric nurses will be best able to care for these patients with awareness of the multiple dimensions of these procedures and the ramifications of caring for these children and their families.
Introduction
In May 2007, Barbara Walters aired a television program on 20/20 called "My Secret Self." This program, still available in five parts on YouTube, depicts the lives of two young children who from birth informed their parents that they had the wrong genitalia for the gender that they were. Both Jesica and Riley, born with male external genitalia, were by two years old choosing to dress and live as girls. They clearly told their parents that "God had made a mistake" and that they were girl children. Another 16-year-old adolescent on the show, born as a girl, at 14 wrote his parents a letter and told them that he was absolutely in the wrong body and planned to begin to live as the young man that he was. Barbara Walters interviewed these children and their parents with dignity. The Walters special is a good accompaniment to this series of articles, which will inform the readers of Pediatric Nursing on the heath care needs of the transgender child. This three-part series will discuss the current status of the transgender child and hormonal treatments used to suppress and transition gender. Parts II and III will discuss transgender surgeries and the barriers transgender individuals face in obtaining health care.
Source...