In 2013, the number of children treated annually at the Doernbecher Children’s Hospital gender clinic at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland was 16. In 2021, the number was 724 – a rise of about 4500 percent.
This is far from unusual. Across the United States and Europe, the number of children and adolescents with gender dysphoria is exploding. No one really knows why. But many specialised gender clinics are offering them life-changing medical treatment – puberty blockers, sex change hormones, and even “gender affirming” surgery.
This puzzling rise in a poorly understood phenomenon has prompted some providers and European authorities to urge caution because of a lack of strong evidence.
In a new report from The BMJ Investigations Unit, an American women’s health journalist, Jennifer Block, looked into the evidence base behind this surge in treatment. The BMJ [British Medical Journal] is one of the world’s leading medical journals. Its misgivings cannot be dismissed as conservative fear-mongering.
Block begins by showing that more teens with no history of gender dysphoria are presenting at gender clinics. For example, a recent analysis of insurance claims found that nearly 18,000 US minors began taking puberty blockers or hormones from 2017 to 2021, the number rising each year.
The number of US private clinics focused on providing hormones and surgeries have grown from just a few a decade ago to more than 100 today.
American medical professional groups are aligned in support of “gender affirming care” for gender dysphoria, which may include hormone treatment to suppress puberty and promote secondary sex characteristics, and surgical removal or augmentation of breasts, genitals, and other physical features.
Three organisations in particular have had a major role in shaping the US approach to gender dysphoria care: The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Endocrine Society, all of which have guidelines or policies that support early medical treatment for gender dysphoria in young people.
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Transgender tide may be turning – Gript
Transgender tide may be turning – Gript
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