Children are Changing Genders
I was recently scrolling through Twitter and saw a video shared by Ron DeSantis. In the video, DeSantis discusses child transitions and the story of a girl, Chloe Cole, who was put on puberty blockers at age 13, had a double mastectomy at age 15, and detransitioned at the age of 16.
One of the comments under the video that caught my eye came from Ed Krassenstein, an account with over 800,000 followers on Twitter, who asked that 10 cases of child mutilation, which is an accurate descriptor of underage transgender treatment, be named. I decided to help him out:
The data in my tweet came from a health technology company, Komodo Health Inc, and Reuters. We can verify each of the claims I made in the tweet by going through the Reuters article.
56 genital surgeries + 776 mastectomies:
14,726 minors started hormone treatment:
Comments, like the one made by Ed Krassenstein, are common on Twitter where I regularly see people expressing doubt that children are transitioning. Many conversations will typically follow the following pattern which was inspired by a reply someone made to my tweet shared earlier in this article:
The primary goal of this article is to address the claim that child transitions, especially those of a surgical nature, are not happening. We know from the Reuters data that these surgeries are happening and Gender Dysphoria is on the rise among children:
We can also reference survey data of surgeons based in the United States:
According to a 2017 survey of 20 WPATH-affiliated surgeons based in the United States, more than half reported that they had performed vaginoplasty in legal minors (contrary to WPATH guidance at the time), with 1–20 cases per surgeon and an age range of 15 to 17 years for the affected individuals
Along with other studies that have been done indicating the number of surgeries that are being performed on underage patients.
Some will inevitably write off the data that was covered, but I hope this article will make it harder for them to ignore the facts that:
Gender Dysphoria is on the rise among children
Children are transitioning
Children are being put on puberty blockers
Children are seeking, and in some cases getting, surgical treatment
Regardless of how one might feel about transgender issues in general, I hope we can find common ground in regard to protecting children from taking drastic, life-changing, and permanent steps by implementing bodily solutions to handle what is an issue of the mind.
We can’t address “transitioning” without considering motivation of the “care givers”.
I’m sure some MDs genuinely feel that mutilating kids & disrupting their natural development is actually helping them, but that does not make them not-evil.
Taking parents out of the equation is just plain wrong, as is not protecting children from misguided parents & caregivers.
Using fear, lies, and half-truths should be a give-away re ideological caregivers.
No one should be allowed to mutilate kids, either surgically or hormonally until they are at least 18, and then only after extensive counseling.
In the case of mentally challenged young people, transitioning should controlled by the courts - and not by just a single judge.
Almost certainly a lot more than 776 mastectomies. The Reuters data doesn't include private pay procedures. And JAMA Pediatrics reports 1,130 from 2016-2019.
Combining data from JAMA Pediatrics (2016-2019: 1,130) and Reuters (2020-21: 538) there were at least 1,668 gender affirming mastectomies for kids ages 12-17. Add in a bare minimum estimate of 250 for 2022 (likely much more based upon trends) and looking at close to 2,000 such procedures.
"Numbers of gender-affirming chest surgeries among transgender adolescents jumped 389% from 2016 to 2019, researchers reported.
Drawing on data from the Nationwide Ambulatory Surgery Sample, an estimated 1,130 chest reconstructive surgeries were performed on transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) adolescents during these years, Rishub Karan Das, BA, of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, and colleagues found.
Nearly all were masculinizing, with only 1.4% feminizing, the group wrote in a research letter appearing in JAMA Pediatricsopens in a new tab or window.
Only about 100 of these surgeries were performed in 2016, after which they steadily became more popular, surpassing 200 surgeries in 2017 and 300 by 2018. Das and colleagues put the 2019 total at 489 (P<0.001 vs 2016).
Ages of the adolescents ranged from 12 to 17, with a median of 16.
For context, the researchers noted that approximately 300,000 adolescentsopens in a new tab or window between the ages of 13 and 17 identify as transgender in the U.S. today."
https://www.medpagetoday.com/pediatrics/generalpediatrics/101252