What is Gender Dysphoria? A clinical definition may be, “The condition of feeling one 's emotional and psychological identity as male or female to be opposite to one 's biological sex.” There is a growing amount of scientific research that suggests gender identity develops at a very early age. So, what are the ethical considerations of gender-reassignment treatments for minors suffering from gender dysphoria? Children can be diagnosed with GD as early as age five. Following, most girls start puberty when they are between the ages of eight and thirteen years old. Then, most boys start puberty when they are between the ages of ten and fifteen years old.
First, what exactly is the process of transitioning for a minor? One of the more recent medical developments is the use of puberty blockers to treat children who are transgender. The medications, suppress the body’s production of estrogen or
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“The Myth of Trans Regrets”, covers topics discussed in this piece such as, attitudes of the patients after transforming through, hormone therapy, chest surgery, genital surgery and overall. Colin Close and GATE conducted the study, “Report of the 2011 Transition Survey”, used for the results in the image. (See figure 1)
Overviewing our information, there is evidence of ethical wrongs and rights when considering sexual reassignment treatments for minors. Also, there are multiple options to choose from when transitioning and risks and gains that come with each. As we read from Dr. Kaufman and Dr. Beaver, the natural effects of puberty are irreversible while the effects of puberty blockers and hormones are reversible. Then from Dr. McHugh, gender dysphoria belongs in the family of similarly disordered assumptions about the body and should be treated in other ways than blockers, hormones, or
In How Sex Changed by Joanne Meyerowitz, the author tell us about the medical, social and cultural history of transsexuality in the United States. The author explores different stories about people who had a deep desired to change or transform their body sex. Meyerowitz gives a chronological expiation of the public opinion and how transsexuality grew more accepted. She also explained the relationship between sex, gender, sexuality and the law. In there the author also address the importance of the creation of new identities as well as how medication constrain how we think of our self. The author also explain how technological progress dissolve the idea of gender as well as how the study of genetics and eugenics impacts in the ideas about gender/sexuality and identity. But more importantly how technology has change the idea of biological sex as unchangeable.
For most people, the idea of Transgenders is new and complicated. Because the idea is so fresh, many adults struggle with how to address this topic to the children because they lack knowledge
Seventy-three transgender children who were allowed to express their gender identity freely, forty-nine of their siblings and seventy-three non-transgender children were involved in the study. None of the transgender children had taken hormone, but they lived freely to express their gender identity. The study measured anxiety and depression levels. For depression levels all the numbers were almost all the same. Anxiety levels for all the children varied. Transgender children had higher levels of depression and anxiety than the siblings or non-transgender children, but the variables were only one or two numbers more. These transgender children were relatively happy with their lives as they were able to live with the gender identity they wanted. Letting transgender live the identity they feel comfortable can improve their mental health in the long run. (“Transgender
In 2006, an unidentified individual who had a disorder of sexual development underwent sexual reassignment surgery (SRS) to go from male genitalia to female genitalia. Initially the individual was described as having a large penis and elevated testosterone levels, he was also labeled as having confusing genitalia—the individual was intersex. There was a vaginal opening and ovarian tissue, which is why the doctors and parents took four months to do the surgery and the individual was 16 months old when the surgery happened. Similar to David, this person also identified as male despite being raised female for five and a half years. Also similar to David, this person expressed differentiating behaviors from their assigned SRS; however, in contrast this person came out earlier, at the age of seven. The unidentified person’s parents sued the medical facility that carried out the SRS for malpractice. That year there were 139 clitoral reduction surgeries and in 2009 there were 156 (Greenfield, 2014). It is still debated what the moral or correct course of action is for intersex
Moore, E., Wisniewski, A., & Dobs, A. (2003). Endocrine treatment of transsexual people: a review of treatment regimens, outcomes, and adverse effects. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 88(8), 3467-3473.
Allowing a child to identify with who they feel they are (meaning transgender) is fine as long as the child is taught about the pain they may experience in a loving way of course. I have seen several 20/20 specials on transgender children and my heart aches for them. I did not like the fact that an early age the parents were taking the children for hormone shots. I think the children our too young to make a life changing decisions and the parents should just love/support them until they are truly old enough to understand the impact on their life. My thoughts were what if the child changes his/her mind. What if the female child grows out of being a tomboy and wants to be a frilly girl. What if the boy is actually bisexual and wants to stay a boy? There were follow-up specials when the child became a teenager as well as specials on transgender adults. I believe the older the child gets the more it is about the child’s sexuality and this is why the parents should wait before starting the sex change
People are commonly born with genitals that are easily distinguished as male or female. Intersex individuals are born with ambiguous genitalia that can’t be clearly categorized. The ambiguity of the genitalia or anatomy varies as a product of different variations of chromosomes, genes, gonads, hormones, and hormone receptors (A.D.A.M.). This variations can either occur externally or internally, for example the genitals could be difficult to distinguish as female or male or the internal anatomy of the individual doesn’t correspond with what is visually seen; for instance, male genitalia with female reproductive organs. In most societies, the ideas of gender affect our actions and when someone is born without an easily distinguishable gender it can threaten to set things out of order and to “disambiguate” the situation, the parents of intersex patients are coerced to turn to gender assignment surgery (A.D.A.M.). It’s estimated that 1 in every 2000 newborns are born with an anatomy that can’t be placed under a gender category and it is common to put that infant immediately (within their 18 months of living) into gender assignment surgery, also known as “normalization” surgeries. These surgeries are cosmetically performed, medically unnecessary, and a form of genital mutilation because it negatively affects the function of the genitals for the sake of fitting into a category. Performing “normalization” surgeries on intersex children is unethical, physically damaging, medically unnecessary, and should be banned in order to allow the intersex individual to make an informed decision concerning surgery and their gender with support and during the appropriate age of consent.
Clinically speaking, a person who was assigned female at birth but identifies and lives as a man is referred to as a transsexual man, or transman, or female-to-male (FTM); a male-to-female (MTF) person is a transsexual woman or transwoman (Glicksman). Some people drop the transgender label after they have transitioned to their new gender. However, they want to be referred to only as a man or a woman. But what if our gender identity, our sense of being a boy or being a girl, does not match our physical body? From a very early age we will start to feel increasingly uncomfortable. For some this is a mild discomfort, for others it is so traumatic they would rather die than continue to live in the wrong body. Unfortunately as transsexual people are a small minority of the population the condition has been labeled by Psychiatrists as "Gender Identity Disorder". With the transgendered, the disordered assumption is that the
Puberty is a difficult time for any child, but for transgender teens, it can be the difference between becoming who they want to be or remaining in the wrong body. In June of this year, PBS Frontline released a documentary, entitled Growing Up Trans, which chronicled the lives of eight transgender and nonbinary children, from the ages of 9 to 19, as they navigated through the process of transitioning to their prefered genders. Some of the kids took hormone blockers to slow down their puberty, others were going through puberty at the time and wanted to transition before it was complete, and one had already gone through puberty and was still taking hormones to transition. The controversy revolving around the documentary focused on whether or
In conclusion, keeping Gender Dysphoria as a diagnosis aids the most vulnerable population in seeking treatment and care, options, protection, and guidance. As society and medicine moves forward, we may be able to steer away from mental health bias and general discrimination towards non-conformity, but for now it is important to protect the patients who are helped by the diagnosis. Gender Dysphoria currently allows patients to be treated under their insurance, have access to care, and fight for their
Cohen-Kettenis, P. T., Schagen, S. E., Steensma, T. D., Vries, A. L., & Waal, H. A. (2011). Puberty Suppression in a Gender-Dysphoric Adolescent: A 22-Year Follow-Up. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 40(4), 843-847.
In today's world there are many different sexual identities a person can adhere to, instead of just being heterosexual or homosexual. What a sexual identity is, is how one refers to think of oneself in terms of whom one is romantically or sexually attracted to. A type of sexual identity is when a person both male or female feel like they are inside the wrong body and they wish to have a sex change. Individuals who identify themselves as transgender aren’t usually adults, in some cases it is children who go through the stages of feeling out of place with there bodies and wish to change it. Some people in today's society would find it very odd that children would wish to be in a different body, in order to understand why this is happening you would have to know what exactly is transgender and transsexual, what causes transgenderism, and the early signs of transgenderism. This phenomenon has been around for a very long time and due to the fact that there is a large misunderstanding there is much confusion when faced with it. In order for one to understand how children become transgender or transsexual one must know what transgender and transsexual mean, what causes transgenderism, and the early signs of it and be mentally prepared for what is to come. Most of the responsibility in understanding transgender children falls on the parents of transgender children.
Kuper, L.E. (2014). Puberty Blocking Medications: Clinical Research Review, IMPACT LGBT Health and Development Program.
I believe that Gender Identity Disorder or gender dysphoria is a complicated physiological disorder that can be affected by the variety of things including the chemical makeup from person to person. We should treat the disorder as such and respect the people suffering from the disorder enough to try to solve the underlying cause, not just the outward symptom. I believe that this disorder can be treated through therapy and hormone therapy to establish hormonal and chemical balance within someone. I view gender reassignment surgery, unless for the benefit of the physical health of the patient, to be a complete waste of medical resources and to be an idea that has been glorified through the media as not only acceptable but as courageous; while the drawbacks of the surgery and the poor results are downplayed or ignored. I also believe that by making gender reassignments available we are “playing god” and taking physical alteration too far. Taking a physically healthy person and performing an entire change of identity because he or she is uncomfortable with the way he or she looks teaches people to be intolerant of problems instead of pushing through them and supports fighting the very way we were created. Lastly, with such alarming rates of people who ultimately were unhappy with their physical appearance and emotional state following the surgery, there doesn’t seem to be a countervailing benefit to
Gender reassignment is a very controversial topic. Does it really work, can surgery really change your gender? People will always tell you about all the things that go right with surgery, but does anyone truly pay attention to the significant problems that this surgery can cause? Gender reassignment surgery (GRS) is a surgical procedure by which a person’s physical appearance and function of their existing sexual characteristics are altered to resemble that of the other sex. It is said that this surgery is used to treat gender identity disorder (GID), which describes the condition in which an individual identifies with a gender inconsistent or not culturally associated with their assigned sex. Having surgery performed can cause both physical and mental tribulations. While death is an unlikely result of complications, things do go wrong, as with all surgeries there are risks. There are also major mental, physiological, social and emotional side effects. Surgery will not fix the underlying psychological problems that cause the request for surgery. Anyone considering surgery needs to proceed with caution, as it can result in irreversible damage.