Trans youth will no longer be prescribed puberty blockers at NHS England gender identity clinics in a new “blow” to gender-affirming healthcare.
Puberty blockers are a type of medicine that prevent puberty from starting by blocking the hormones – like testosterone and oestrogen – that lead to puberty-related changes in the body. In the case of trans youth, this can delay unwanted physical changes like menstruation, breast growth, voice changes or facial hair growth.
On Tuesday (12 March), NHS England confirmed the medicine, which has been described as “life-saving” medical care for trans youth, will only be available to young people as part of clinical research trials.
The government described the move as a “landmark decision”, Sky News reported. It believed such a move is in the “best interests of the child”.
God damn Tories. What do they know about “best interests of the child” that a doctor doesn’t already know? Less than nothing is the answer.
If a young person is suffering from gender dysmorphia to the point of considering gender affirmation procedures, then I think it’d be in their best interest to not exacerbate that condition. Delaying the onset of puberty via puberty blockers until they’re at the age where that can legally consent to such procedures isn’t exactly novel.
Even if they eventually decide not to undergo those procedures, all you habr to do is take them off the blockers and they’d undergo puberty as normal. There’s not all that much downside for an awful lot of upside for those in need.
Even if they eventually decide not to undergo those procedures, all you habr to do is take them off the blockers and they’d undergo puberty as normal. There’s not all that much downside for an awful lot of upside for those in need.
Is that actually true? Do those medications actually permanently prevent puberty after a certain point?
No, barring some other condition, puberty resumes once you stop using puberty blockers. There are increasing risks of side effects when staying on puberty blockers for more than a couple years, so it’s usually a temporary measure to give children with gender dysphoria more time to explore their identity without subjecting them to the irreversible effects of puberty yet. As a result, doctors won’t allow a patient to stay on puberty blockers permanently (barring outliers where it would actually be safer to do so, e.g. because of cancer risk associated with sex hormones). There are two typical outcomes:
- The patient determines that they would like to transition medically, and will transition from puberty blockers to hormone replacement therapy according to their goals. This essentially allows them to replace the pubertal effects typically associated with their birth sex with something else depending on the regimen.
- The patient determines that they don’t want to transition medically, and stops puberty blockers without starting hormone replacement therapy. At this point, puberty begins/resumes on its own as usual.
Even if they eventually decide not to undergo those procedures, all you habr to do is take them off the blockers and they’d undergo puberty as normal. There’s not all that much downside for an awful lot of upside for those in need.
Oh, don’t worry. Statistically, people who start puberty blockers almost always go on to receive hormone therapy as adults, so you don’t really have to worry about people deciding not to continue. It’s definitely* because of the medicine that they go on to do HRT, and not because the kids that are getting through the bullshit to actually start blockers are the kids who are almost 100% guaranteed to be trans. Don’t think too hard and it’ll all just go away.
Doctors can be manipulated to support an agenda, too.
They used to classify homosexuality as a mental disorder, for example.
They also used to recommend lobotomies as treatment for unruly wives.
Do you think there are no instances of doctors being manipulated or corrupt in the current day? They of course have a profit incentive to get as much business as possible. It’s why you seen cosmetic surgeons lie through their teeth to manipulate vulnerable people into giving them money.
Doctors still have a lot more experience of what works than Conservative politicians do. And if you took “it must be impossible for any doctor ever to abuse this power for corrupt ends” as the standard for approving a treatment, no treatments would ever get approved.
Ah yes and it was famously the politicians that showed them the light. Not other doctors conducting research and presenting evidence.
Politicians certainly never had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century of medicine.
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Bullshit. Source or it didn’t happen.
I’ve seen this claim many, many times, but I have yet to see my very first news article (from an actual source!) confirming it.
In absolute fairness, this is what happened to David Reimer. It’s how we know that you can’t just force a gender on someone, even if you start when they’re an infant. Conversion therapy never ever helps, it only ever hurts, and trying to force trans kids to be cis is as bad as trying to force cis kids to be trans. Let people pick their own goddamn paths in life, it’s not that hard to keep your nose out of other people’s business (not you, the busybodies who have to “save the children” from well researched medicine and medical professionals with their common sense >.<)
omg, RIP David Reimer
Yeah, it’s fucking awful. John Money was incredibly fucked up as a person, and even with all of the terrible that’s documented, there’s at least hints that it was even worse; that the surgeon who fucked up the circumcision did so, so that Money had a twin pair for his study. Using a cauterizing iron in that way and at those settings certainly wasn’t a standard procedure.
Reimer twins. It’s a well documented case. I suspect that is the case they are referencing.
One case in the 60s/70s? That’s bad evidence. I assume you are clarifying and not supporting the person above.
Why don’t you calm down and not be hostile.
You asked for a case. I gave you as well known case.
If you had read the case, it was common practice and that is the study that ended it.
Disinformation merits hostility. I’ll yield when I’m wrong.
Because this case ended it, it is no longer true that doctors force transitioning, thus proving my assertion that the person above is full of shit. Show me a relevant case and I’ll be happy to change my mind. Some case in which a doctor forced transitioning and was not prosecuted or sued over it within the last decade. I’m flexible on the date.
If you had read the case, which you haven’t. You would have learned this was a common practice.
You keep moving the goalpost. I was just responding to your inaccurate statement.
seen doctors force sex change to children that lead to the child killing themselves in adulthood
Why do transphobes lie all the fucking time? Like, is there something wrong with your brain preventing you from not lying?
it was a documentary on tv about a guy that tried to detransition but for whatever reason was not happy with it
Why do you people always argue in bad faith?
Detransitioning is real and a lot of people end up regretting the decisions that you pressure them into making.
Regret after Gender-affirmation Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Prevalence
Results: A total of 27 studies, pooling 7928 transgender patients who underwent any type of GAS, were included. The pooled prevalence of regret after GAS was 1% (95% CI <1%–2%). Overall, 33% underwent transmasculine procedures and 67% transfemenine procedures. The prevalence of regret among patients undergoing transmasculine and transfemenine surgeries was <1% (IC <1%–<1%) and 1% (CI <1%–2%), respectively. A total of 77 patients regretted having had GAS. Twenty-eight had minor and 34 had major regret based on Pfäfflin’s regret classification. The majority had clear regret based on Kuiper and Cohen-Kettenis classification.
Conclusions: Based on this review, there is an extremely low prevalence of regret in transgender patients after GAS.
Even people who regret their surgeries aren’t necessarily regretting that they had gender affirming care. Surgeries can go wrong and aren’t always predictable. They can change our relationships with our bodies. Regret isn’t always “I regret transitioning” - it can be “I don’t like the way my scars healed.”
Team “no regrets” here. Right after I got out of surgery I woke up just enough to look down where them titties where and smiled.
You are so full of shit. Why do transphobes always insist transitioning is forced?
What about when trans people are forced to not transition? Suicide rates go up.
What happened to me when I was forced to conform to a cis gender role for 40 years? Denial, suicidal thoughts, drug addiction, and alcoholism. After I started hormone therapy, I completely lost all interest in drugs and alcohol, and I no longer consider suicide. I’m happy and I want to take care of myself. I became a productive member of society.
There are about 1.5 million transgender people living in the US. 1% regret their decision and detransition. That is 15,000 people. And 0% of them were “pressured” into transitioning.
Detransitioning is a different claim than doctors forcing children to transition you dumbass. Nobody’s saying detransitioning isn’t a thing
the guy was forced from his parents due to doctors advice
It’s a good thing that medical best practice is to put adolescents on reversible puberty blockers until they are adults at which point the adult can make decisions about their medical care, then.
They are not referring to detransitioning (which is real though a minority to my understanding). They are referring to the blatant lie that doctors force patients to transition.
Edit: He -> They. Feels really inappropriate to assume gender given the context.
Transition surgeries have among the lowest regret rates for any kind of surgery. They are life saving.
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Please read the other comment below that details the regret rate for transition related surgeries. Unfortunately my browser is unable to translate that article, but one bad case doesn’t not outweight the many, many good ones.
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Where did you get this information?
On the off chance that you’re actually asking, there have been studies that have shown the regret rate for transitioning is less than 1%.
Here’s an article about a recent study which tracked people up to 23 years post-transition, showing median regret as 0 out of 100.
Now, you might be thinking to yourself “but that’s just one study, with around 200 participants, and the results were so uniform it caused issues with the statistics. Maybe it’s wrong.” Well, here is a meta-analysis of 27 additional studies, with almost 8,000 participants, which also shows regret rates are <1%.
Hope that helps.
Thanks for responding to them and finding the sources, I find that exhausting with bad faith arguers.
Interesting, I can’t access the actual paper but on the face of it that’s quite strong evidence, isn’t it. But I’ve never had a problem with people undergoing elective SRS as adults.
Puberty is a sex change forced on all children by their own hormones. Just because it matches the sex they were assigned at birth doesn’t mean it doesn’t force radical physical changes. It’s stressful even for cis kids, and can lead trans kids towards suicide.
Blocking it postpones the permanent physical changes until the person is old enough to make a rational decision whether to have (less extreme needed) medical intervention to achieve a physical appearance that matches the sex they weren’t assigned at birth, or to stop taking the blockers and allow their assigned sexual characteristics to develop.
Anyone who thinks doctors are pushing trans surgeries should be in favor of puberty blockers.
That’s a bit like saying life is forced on you by your conception and birth, though. It’s getting a bit metaphysical at that point.
Good thing puberty blockers aren’t a fucking sex change. Even if your almost certainly bullshit comment was true, it still as relevant to puberty blockers as birth control pills are to abortion; related, but a completely different function.
Calm down. Why are you getting so mad because he made a rational comment?
This fierce tribalism needs to stop.
There’s nothing tribal about calling out bullshit and there’s nothing rational about making shit up. Telling that you tone police me rather than refuting what I said, though.
Yeah, but you’re only getting upset because he said something rational that you didn’t like.
Now you’re trying to pretend it doesn’t make sense because again, it’s something you don’t like.
Why can’t you people argue in good faith? Is it because you’re tribalist?
Why can’t you people argue in good faith?
First off, Hitchens’ razor.
Besides that, physician heal thyself. Every interaction I’ve had with you has consisted of you asking me leading questions. You keep asking people that disagree with what seems to be your position to provide evidence to back their claims yet you’re perfectly happy to accept a false claim because it aligns with your views. If you were actually the paragon of objectivity you pretend to be you’d ask the guy above to backup his claim too. So, can you remind me who is tribal?
I’ve seen space vampires enslave circus clowns in a plot to corner the world’s market on instant ramen, too.
Source: Trust me bro.
I’m sure then you’ve also seen the basement of Cosmic Pizza
No you fucking haven’t.
That is complete bullshit and you know it. What’s your source? Prove it or it didn’t happen.
Even assuming it is true,
- would that person kill themselves regardless or even earlier?
- doctors are people sure, but at least they have medical training, and supposed to focus on the interest of the patient, as opposed to politicians, who are focused on satisfying their constituents.
did i say we should allow politicians to choose? i swear most people here try to push their agenta one way or another. People replying saying things that dont exist in my comment. My reply was about letting each person choose their path when they are old enough to make that choice but it turned into fashion, countles stories of parents that want to have the “im progressive” stamp so they push their children to change gender, why not let them be? if they ask to change gender then you can talk about it and have specialists talk to the child to make sure that this is really what it wants, but letting doctors be the one to suggest it is crazy to me, if the child doesn’t initiate that conversation.
I’ve seen space vampires enslave circus clowns in a plot to corner the world’s market on instant ramen, too.
Source: Trust me bro.
Agreed. That’s a very rational take to have on these forums.
Most people here get mad at you if you don’t show unwavering, blind support for their tribe.
Big claims need big evidence. Source.
their tribe
…you say, as you go around supporting the one unfounded comment from “your tribe” as you argue against every single other commenter who called out that BS comment.
I think this “tribalism” thing you’re talking about is projection. You’re aligning with what you think is your “tribe” and arguing against the dozens of people with different viewpoints and opinions who just happen to disagree with that massively downvoted comment.
Oh, great. Vulnerable children and desperate parents searching for prescription medication on the black market. What could go wrong?
Mission accomplished.
All right wingers want for Christmas is increased suicidality of anyone unlike themselves
Or probably more accurately if you look at right wing scandals, people that think similarly to them but are brave enough to live their truth and not try to hide behind a bible and pay their reality away.
Conservatives are cowards. They mainline fear 24/7, they feel list without it.
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Right wing conservatives can go pound sand. Talk about the government pushing itself between a doctor and patient care.
A landmark bullshit decision.
Best interest of the child my ass. I knew and know so many trans kids that suffer(ed) so much from such awful transphobic laws.
That’s just purely disgusting and will have horrible consequences for so many people. I am so sorry for every trans kid in England that suffers from this. :(40 years of Hollyweird / Music Industry / Olympics trainer agents pumping their youngest stars full of this shit in order to squeeze an extra year or two of revenue out of them? Fine. Cool. Good. No problems detected.
Some trans youth have a legitimate medical need for deferring puberty, while they come to terms with their gender and sexuality? Fuck you. Prohibited. Go directly to jail.
its almost like the weirdo hollywood guys are in league with the weirdo religious guys.
By way of the weirdo military guys, most commonly.
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Honey. We know our shit and we often know it young. I had to go through puberty knowing as I was experiencing it every moment was taking me further and further into a body horror I knew I would never come to terms with. Other trans people my age are very much the same and you know what? A lot of us live with deep lifelong regrets knowing that we have less options to travel the world or exist comfortably in public because of that puberty we knew bone deep right from the get go we never wanted.
Being trans isn’t subtle. It screams at you, gnaws at your insides how wrong everything is. Particularly when pre-puberty you are able to perfectly pass… And then every minute puberty slowly takes that away from you by inches like a slow bleeding wound until you ache to have what you know you will never effortlessly experience again.
Ignorance fucking doomed me. Yours will do nothing but doom others.
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Yeah… Is pushing 40 considered young now or do I have to be fucking senile before I count? Take your paternalistic shit and cram it right back up your ass where it came from.
So does this also apply to precocious puberty or is this purely a fuck you to trans people?
You see, every other problem in the UK has been solved, so now all they have left is fucking with people who just want to be happy in their own body.
Right-wingers pick on minorities precisely because they have no plans for how to improve life for people in general, and in fact not the slightest interest in doing so. If they were honest about that, no one would vote for them, so they have to invent scapegoats and distractions. Somehow it’s easy to persuade a lot of people that some entirely made up problem is the most urgent, such as some minority coming to destroy their “way of life”, and thereby distract them from all the actual problems you have caused for them.
Right wing politics is always privileged sociopaths duping the gullible and ignorant.
It’s specifically for gender identity clinics so only applies to trans kids
It will be specific to diagnosis codes.
Time to start some really large clinical trials.
Which wouldn’t be a bad idea anyway, tracking long-term outcomes.
It’s been around since the 80s, we already know long term outcomes.
Um, excuse me, who said 40 years was long enough? If we don’t have trials that show how people receiving these drugs turned out all the way until they died then we don’t really have long term trials, do we?
/s
It’s such a fucking cop out. Nothing will ever be good enough for some people.
I dont want to speak to the social aspect of this issue, but I have to imagine that blocking puberty has some crazy side effects. How long has this medical technology been in use and where can I find studies about it? Again, I know this is sensitive and I am just curious from a biological standpoint.
blocking puberty has some crazy side effects.
I’m a provider at a children’s hospital. I specialize in orthopedics and rehabilitation, so I mostly deal with the musculoskeletal system. I have colleagues who would be able to provide a much better and more in depth explanation, but I will do my best.
Even in orthopedics “hormone blockers” are used fairly frequently. For example the same drugs that people use to transition are utilized to moderate the epiphyseal fusion of growth plates. Puberty is also frequently delayed to moderate the hormone levels of juvenile cancer patients. Or even more increasingly common, to halt the symptoms of precocious puberty in young women.
The vast majority of juveniles prescribed hormones to delay puberty are for non gender affirming care like cancer. The problem with moderating what medical providers can and can’t treat is that you are assuming you know more about medicine than the a person who went to medical school.
You may be trying to protect kids, but what ends up happening is an interference of medical care, and usually not the type you intended. If hormone drugs become more monitored, providers may be hesitant, or have a more difficult brine prescribing it.
The dangers of delaying puberty are very small, when you stop the prescription puberty begins again. Usually the only side effect is excessive growth due to a delay if epiphyseal fusion. In regards to gender affirming care, I will remind people that their providers are looking at total outcomes. Meaning they are factoring in things like the higher potentiality of self harm and suicide.
Thank you for your reply! This is good information
That’s why I browse Lemmy. Thank you.
refers to self as provider
Definitely not a doctor.
Provider is actually the preferred terminology in most hospitals nowadays. It helps transition away from physicians being the “captain of the ship” to a more team based medical approach.
It also helps boost patient confidence in the entire medical team, especially in places like where I work, where there are a lot of residents and PAs doing the bulk of the patient care.
The AMA literally says the opposite:
https://www.ama-assn.org/system/files/a-23-omss-resolution-5.pdf
The only people pushing “provider” are administrators who would prefer to muddy the waters with regards to who providers care, and the midlevels who benefit.
Lol, Idk. Do people go to medical school for the title, or to actually help people?
I like the team approach, and I think referring to everyone as a provider is especially good for my residents, some of which will occasionally think they know more than a PA-C who’s been here for 30 years, just because they don’t have an MD after their name.
The only doctors that care about being called doctor are residents who think too highly of themselves, or the dinosaurs who hate patient care and only got into the field for the prestige.
You can feel about it however you’d like, but the term provider was purposely used to justify different care without patients being aware.
It’s not a matter of a 30 year PA vs a resident, experience certainly matters. But I take issue when you claim medical knowledge because you’re a “provider”, and especially because you work in a pediatric hospital. The role of a pediatric endocrinologist and an ortho PA almost don’t overlap, and the background schooling almost don’t either.
That’s not to say I’m particularly qualified either (it’s outside my specialty) but you infer that you’re qualified to comment when you and I both know, frankly, you’re not.
used to justify different care without patients being aware.
Lol, you really think a PA is going to provide different care than an MD? What, an MD is going to prescribe PT and bracing when a PA is going to … chop their leg off?
But I take issue when you claim medical knowledge because you’re a “provider”, and especially because you work in a pediatric hospital.
Did I not predicate my statement with my lack of speciality? What exactly did I say that was false? If you have problems with the information I stated then say so. But, if all you are doing is appealing to an entirely assumed authority, go kick rocks.
The role of a pediatric endocrinologist and an ortho PA almost don’t overlap, and the background schooling almost don’t either.
What? I mean endocrinology doesn’t refer the majority of our patients, but it’s a significant amount… Also, the only information I gave over endocrinology, directly pertains to my field.
but you infer that you’re qualified to comment when you and I both know, frankly, you’re not.
Lol, I have no idea how qualified you are, and you have no idea what my qualifications are. However, based on your statement I highly doubt you actually work in patient care. Seems like you’re pretending to be a character of a doctor from a 00’s medical drama.
I know therapists and other medical professionals. There is a push to let people see non physicians directly instead of needing a physician to refer you to the person who can obviously help you more.
Yeah really. Trust the science. Trust the doctors. NHS says it and it will be so.
Precocious puberty has been a thing forever and the first medications for delaying it by regulating hormones have been around since the 1980s. I think that should be the jumping off point for research. However afaik the same sorts of drugs are also commonly used to treat cancer in adults.
Here is an article about their use in treating trans people with links to various studies https://transfemscience.org/articles/puberty-blockers/
Thank you for the info and link! I will read up
How long has this medical technology been in use and where can I find studies about it?
Decades. It was there when I was a kid, so like 20 years ago. And it wasn’t new medical technology at the time.
I have to imagine that blocking puberty has some crazy side effects.
Sort of the joke. Puberty is what has the crazy side effects.
It reduces bone density. Not to unhealthy levels in teens, but there are concerns the lower baseline will increase osteoporosis risk when the patients get to old age.
They can also only be used for a couple of years. Some non-binary people want to be on them permanently, but doctors won’t prescribe that. Some kids want more time to decide, and unfortunately there isn’t anything safe to use through the full teenage years.
It has very few side effects and is completely reversible.
The side effects and risks are worth it when you only get one shot at puberty. If you don’t transition as a pre-pubescent teenager, you will never “pass” as well, especially as a transwoman.
A really good example of how successful you can be if you’re early is Corey Maison. There are cases of transition regret of course, but they’re still a very small percentage of the total, and that percentage is reduced by puberty blockers giving young people more time to figure out themselves and their own bodies, and to make the choice that’s right for them.
There’s some studies that found that bone density could be affected, but considering the suicide rate of trans people I’m going to say that’s a tiny sacrifice for the assurance that you can have the body your brain wants to be in.
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You seem really unpleasant. Good luck out there, friend.
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That is not what I am saying or implying, as I do not have any information on the subject. Please do not put words in my mouth.
Well played, two steps backwards and one step forward. As usual.
Go fuck yourself, Im not taking any steps in any direction, I was asking for information so that I can further educate myself on a difficult topic.
If I fuck myself they’ll think I’m half transgender and take away my rights
Experimentation… Using drugs tried and tested for decades?
Okay, but we don’t know what effect it will have on some nosey TERF moms in Sussex who have strong opinions based on an all caps post on Facebook.
TERF island strikes again
I thought quackery was illegal, but apparently not when it’s *fundamentalists in politics.
*Fundamentalists as in fundamentally sociopaths.
welcome to TERF island
Another Tory L as usual.
Can’t wait till the day comes when they’re out of the gov for good.
You confident that blue Labour will reverse this policy?
Prob not tbh but since how bad everything is atm, any change at this point is better than none at this rate.
It’s all part of the NHS War On Mental Health. The plan is remove treatments that conservatives don’t believe in because they can’t see them. They will take those savings and use them to extend the lives of terminally ill people in persistent vegetative states because life is sacred and needs to be protracted and painful.
Just when I though the UK couldn’t disappoint any further.
I wonder what the statistics are of “trans youth” figuring out they’re actually not trans as they get older.
I was going to downvote and move on, but instead…
I have family and friends that are trans, so I have been able to kind of follow their outcomes over the years.
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Human gender identity and sexuality does seem to fluctuate somewhat, but it doesn’t seem to me to be random. Some people fully identify as one gender but like to perform as a different one. Other people don’t vary at all. In cases where people “change their mind”, it’s usually because they get discouraged about being able to successfully transition, or they experience severe harassment/workplace discrimination. Just in my anecdotal experience, it’s never because they just randomly decide they no longer want to be trans
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No one is getting permanent gender affirmation treatment until they are old enough to know and have been in discussions with doctors for years. I’m sure there are exceptions where some poor 5 year olds parent(s) treated them without medical oversight but it’s not common and no one wants this.
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I’m assuming you’re asking in good faith. I found this type of question to be especially controversial due to the legislation against gender-affirming care, especially puberty blockers. In researching further:
As others have stated, cases where permanent gender-affirming care was given, such as HRT (hormone therapy) and GRS (genital reconfiguration surgery), instances of regret are incredibly rare, and almost always predicated by lack of support for the individual. They are far outnumbered by instances of trans people undergoing puberty incompatible with their gender, which is itself damaging and irreversible.
The type of care discussed in this article, GnRH (puberty blockers), has been shown to not have long term consequences, and is only used to delay puberty and the potential long term effects, giving them enough time to make an informed decision about their transition. From the Mayo Clinic:
GnRH analogues don’t cause permanent physical changes. Instead, they pause puberty. That offers a chance to explore gender identity. It also gives youth and their families time to plan for the psychological, medical, developmental, social and legal issues that may lie ahead…
When a person stops taking GnRH analogues, puberty starts again.
Extremely uncommon. But on the off chance it happens, they just stop taking the puberty blockers and everything proceeds as normal.
Basically non-existant but of course when it does happen it gets repeated over and over again. The main reason why anybody detransitions is because of how they get treated during their transition.
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This is not only wrong but directly the opposite of the truth
It’s also the worst type of wrong: the type that has the potential to seriously harm people. Hopefully they retract it instead of continuing to double down.
That is documented in studies.
Not in that study. The link you provided only has the abstract but it’s not even about how common detransitioning is.
It has a sample size of 25 so it couldn’t even draw an average with that but according to the study it’s goal seems to be to document the motives for transitioning for people who go on to transition and the ones who don’t.
Is that the “people who didn’t contact us back are obviously detransitioning” study?
It obvious you’re not trying to have serious conversation since you didn’t read the study and are conflating detransitioning with people who outgrow it. If you don’t understand a topic well enough to talk about it then don’t. I’m done
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didn’t read the study
It’s behind a paywall…
I take it you have a source you can link to?
