Sex-changing treatment for kids: It's on the rise

[dipsydoodle]

CHICAGO (AP) -- A small but growing number of teens and even younger children who think they were born the wrong sex are getting support from parents and from doctors who give them sex-changing treatments, according to reports in the medical journal Pediatrics.

It's an issue that raises ethical questions, and some experts urge caution in treating children with puberty-blocking drugs and hormones.

An 8-year-old second-grader in Los Angeles is a typical patient. Born a girl, the child announced at 18 months, "I a boy" and has stuck with that belief. The family was shocked but now refers to the child as a boy and is watching for the first signs of puberty to begin treatment, his mother told The Associated Press.

Pediatricians need to know these kids exist and deserve treatment, said Dr. Norman Spack, author of one of three reports published Monday and director of one of the nation's first gender identity medical clinics, at Children's Hospital Boston.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MED_TRANSGENDER_CHILDREN?SITE=NDBIS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

From the UK :

Boy, 5, lives his life as a GIRL after becoming one of the youngest ever to be diagnosed on the NHS with 'Gender Identity Disorder'

A five-year-old who felt he was a girl trapped in a boy's body has become one of the youngest-ever children to be diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder.

From the age of three Zach Avery refused to live as a boy, instead choosing to wear pink dresses and ribbons in his long, blonde hair.

He also became obsessed with the girly children’s TV character Dora the Explorer.

Parents Theresa and Darren Avery, 41, became worried by Zach's behaviour and took him to the doctors.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2103686/Boy-5-lives-life-GIRL-youngest-diagnosed-NHS-Gender-Identity-Disorder.html#ixzz1mv1PCDav

[Auggie]

1. Fascinating ...

"Only 1 of the 97 (children) opted out of permanent treatment ..."

[hlthe2b]

2. I think and truly hope they are doing the right thing

It is not without considerable risk to the child if they are somehow wrong.... But, it does seem that children KNOW--even at such early ages.

[DetlefK]

3. BULLS**T! Old enough to decide on its gender but not old enough for consensual sex with an adult?

Why is sex with children outlawed legally and socially?
Because kids of that age don't know shit about sexuality, gender and romance.

And those kids, whose brains haven't yet gained the capacity to judge sexual matters, are deemed old enough to define their gender????

There are reasons why we don't leave some decisions about a child to that child.

I think, any actions to determine the gender of a child before the onset of puberty (approx. at an age of 12) are unethical.

[MadrasT]

5. Gender identity and sexuality are not closely related, IMO.

Though I do find myself questioning the ethics of this and am undecided if it is OK or not. It's a really tough call.

[The Philosopher]

6. Any action to DETERMINE the gender before puberty is unethical?

So all parents are unethical when they ask if their unborn child is a boy or a girl? Or does it start when a name is assigned? Clothes? Social groups? Expectations? Stigmas and whatnot?

Or by "determine" do you mean a physical change in the birth body of the child? To a transgender child, this has already happened. Not by a surgeon or unethical parents, but by nature. Can nature be unethical, too?

I don't think it's proper to equate gender reassignment with raping children. You can't go to a medical expert and ask, "My neighbor's ten year old kid is begging for it. Should I consider rape?" Well, you could. But the response imagined shows how far off your example is from gender reassignment.

Here's a question that's more linked: do you believe determining whether or not a child is homosexual or not is unethical before the onset of puberty?

[DetlefK]

9. Sorry for being unclear. I meant "determining" as physical change.

The brain is rewired during puberty, as a finishing touch to prepare the body for procreation when the growth-phase is almost complete. (That rewiring causes teenagers to be so ... extraordinary.)

Now consider a child which lacks the brain structure, the hormones and the experience to witness/judge sexuality-related emotions. Not to mention their non-functioning reproductive organs, which deprives them of further experience on that matter.
That child has no idea what being male or female means, except for the prejudices that society presses on them ("All girls have to wear skirts".).
The child lacks crucial information for its decision-making process and may even be feed false information.
So why should anyone suppose that the decision has any merit?

And I brought the example with raping children up, because of the hypocrisy with which this argument is handled:
* A child is not deemed fit to decide whether or not to have sex. That's why sex with a child is considered rape.
* That very same child is considered fit to alter a crucial aspect of their biology with unforeseen consequences for the rest of its life.



And my answer to your question is: Yes, in both ways. I think, its unethical to force any sexual concept on a child (be it male/female or homo/hetero) before it's ready to face that question.

[izquierdista]

4. Treatment?

What's to treat? Perfectly normal sexual organs don't fall into the same category as atrial septum defects, spina bifida, or a cleft palate. What needs to be treated is the attitude of people worried about the child's behaviours. Let the kid express his or her identity and watch it develop. Only when some potentially harmful activity starts to manifest itself should the medical profession think there is something that they have to "treat".

Remember, "first do no harm".

[The Philosopher]

8. So you wait until the kid is suffering from depression

or other disorders before resolving the issue?

This isn't just fakery or confusion. To the transgender, those sexual organs aren't perfectly normal. Sure, you're born with them, but it's the same as anyone else waking up with the opposite gender. If you woke up with the opposite of your gender, how would you react? How would you react when you're forced from then on to live according to what you just woke up with? It's fully functional and healthy, so what's to treat?

[Auggie]

10. I agree ...

As the article says, 1 out of 97 opt out. Not a scientific sample but darned impressive.

[izquierdista]

12. For a philosopher, you haven't thought this out much

Human sexuality has not been studied for all that long, that the medical profession should be offering hormones and surgery as "cures" for this condition. There's another thread on today, "Gender Identity Issues Can Harm Kids' Mental Health: Study" (http://www.democraticunderground.com/11375824), which is summarized by "The ones who are well-adjusted and well-accepted by their families and at school don't have the psychiatric issues."

Again, I'll say there is nothing wrong with effeminate men or masculine women that more social acceptance can't fix. Medical science has come a long way, but monkeying around with "treatments" is the fakery and confusion at issue, since no matter how hard they try, they can't change that second X to a Y or vice versa.

[JohnnyLib2]

7. And I thought circumcision was a hot topic......

this may be explosive.

And surely a high-risk decision.

[hedgehog]

11. From the link:

"Spack said by some estimates, 1 in 10,000 children have the condition."

For comparison,

It is believed that dyslexia can affect between 5 and 10 percent of a given population

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyslexia

In the first study to take a broad-population look at the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders — types of autism ranging from severe symptoms to the milder Asperger's syndrome — researchers found a rate of 2.64% among South Korean children. That's 1 in 38 children, a rate far higher than the estimate of 1 in 110 children for the U.S. by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/may/08/health/la-he-autism-korea-20110509

So we're not exactly talking a huge number of children here. Please excuse me if I don't use the right terminology. I think there have always been trans people, it's just that now we cis people are more aware and some at least, more accepting. My best wishes go to these parents who are trying their best to assist their children to a happy, fulfilling life. Everyone involved is learning as they go, so there will be mistakes. I think it's best for those not involved to offer support and a willingness to listen.