THE TRANSGENDER CHILD

Like any concerned parent, Karen (and Frank, too) read up on transgender children. The brief overview below will assist readers to understand some of the important issues of transitioning from natal gender to psychological gender, and the impact of puberty. Gender issues that can be easily concealed, or overlooked during childhood, change dramatically as puberty approaches.

Gender dysphoria wasn’t an issue when Karen and Frank were kids; puberty typically started around 12, and kids were too scared to admit they were different. Nowadays, partial acceptance of sexual deviations has replaced ostracism; and kids learn about puberty in the third grade for a reason. The most recent research indicates a 21^st-Century boy’s testicles typically increase from one to four ml around ten years of age; and the average girl’s breast buds appear at age nine. Those ages are mean averages; as many children start puberty earlier as those who start later!

Precocious sexual maturation (prior to cognitive development) is a national problem with profound implications, yet the medical/academic industry largely ignores it. Being overweight is related, but not necessarily a causal factor. Researchers also suspect the agricultural industry, specifically hormone additives to stimulate livestock weight gain. However, the cause could be far less menacing—for example, a night light in a child’s bedroom affects melatonin production, essential for natural rhythms such as scheduling hormone production in the body.

Puberty is devastating to a child who needs to change gender. Until very recently, the typical approach was to wait until the child was 16 and then prescribe hormones of the ‘preferred’ gender. Complications abound when a child begins taking crossover hormones. It takes large doses of estrogen to ‘stop’ male characteristics and develop a female physiognomy, and the same with testosterone doses and re-forming a natal girl with male characteristics. There is an increased risk of blood clots, heart disease, and diabetes later in life, plus fertility problems if the child changes his/her mind.

The US medical industry seldom performs gender-correcting surgery (which could minimize the hormonal effects) before age 21. Typically, sympathetic doctors prescribe progestin at the onset of puberty. Progestin injections are standard treatment for precocious puberty, interrupting hormonal development. It works for transgender kids, too, except for potential neurocognitive effects from prolonged use.

The ‘latest and greatest’ is GnRH analogues. They temporarily block the hormones from the pituitary gland that trigger puberty. It isn’t just about breasts, genital growth, and pubic hair. Puberty blockers delay changes in vocal chords, skin tissue, and facial structure, essential male/female characteristics. Then, there are issues of gender-specific bone growth and neurological changes. Therein, is the grist of the problem. At the end of the day, no one really knows how sex hormones affect brain development.

Transgender surgery in the US begins at $20,000. In the transgender community, Thailand is the low-cost surgery option. With minimal qualifying standards, and sometimes none at all, it’s actually cheaper for both parents and child to holiday in Thailand than pay for a year of the current fad, GnRH analogues. In the US, each monthly injection of puberty blocker costs $1,800 to $5,000; $35,000 for a one-year implant. Incidentally, most health insurance companies deny claims.