With the urging of the Biden administration, gender clinics in the United States appear to be pushing ahead with aggressive medical interventions for gender-confused young people even as top Swedish doctors who reviewed the use of puberty blockers for children now say the drugs should only be called “experimental.”
Doctors at the Karolinska Institute, one of Europe’s top medical schools, released a systematic review of the literature regarding the provision of puberty blockers to children, the report for which was published April 17 at Acta Paediatrica.
“Long-term effects of hormone therapy on psychosocial health are unknown,” the Swedish researchers concluded. “GnRHa treatment [puberty blockers] delays bone maturation and gain in bone mineral density. GnRHa treatment in children with gender dysphoria should be considered experimental treatment of individual cases rather than standard procedure.”
The Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM), which seeks to promote “ethical and evidence-informed healthcare for children, adolescents & young adults,” posted a thread to Twitter last week explaining the study’s conclusions.
“The review was conducted in order to update Sweden’s national guidelines for gender dysphoria treatments,” SEGM noted.
“The review analyzed 24 relevant studies,” the group continued. “The effects of puberty blockers & hormones on psychological health could not be ascertained due to the poor quality of the studies. [The] review found problems with bone health, which partially resolved by age 22.”
Among the many problems the doctors found with the studies they reviewed include poor study design; high dropout rates of subjects; a reliance on biological age – noted because puberty blockers halt biological maturity; the old age of some of the studies; and lack of long-term data.
The review's conclusion are sobering: the long-term effects of hormonal interventions on psychological and physical health are unknown, and there is evidence of adverse effects of puberty blockers on bone maturation. /4 pic.twitter.com/Er2xxpV1k0
— SEGM (@segm_ebm) April 19, 2023
SEGM observed:
The review’s conclusion[s] are sobering: the long-term effects of hormonal interventions on psychological and physical health are unknown, and there is evidence of adverse effects of puberty blockers on bone maturation.
“Like other Western countries, Sweden has seen rapid growth in youth gender dysphoria,” SEGM points out. “The conclusion that youth gender transitions are not standard procedures but ‘experimental treatment of individual cases’ positions psychotherapy as the main treatment modality for youth.”
Like other Western countries, Sweden has seen rapid growth in youth gender dysphoria. The conclusion that youth gender transitions are not standard procedures but "experimental treatment of individual cases" positions psychotherapy as the main treatment modality for youth. /13 pic.twitter.com/3Bo0r3jjZW
— SEGM (@segm_ebm) April 19, 2023
“The fact that the public health authority in Sweden—the first country in the world to recognize the legal status of transgender adults—has called for randomized controlled trials of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for gender dysphoric youth is a watershed moment,” SEGM emphasizes.
The fact that the public health authority in Sweden—the first country in the world to recognize the legal status of transgender adults—has called for randomized controlled trials of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for gender dysphoric youth is a watershed moment. /15
— SEGM (@segm_ebm) April 19, 2023
Fox News observed in its report on the study that “[d]espite the limited research on the subject of prescribing puberty blockers to treat gender dysphoria, providers in the United States commonly refer to the drugs as ‘completely reversible,’ and stress its overall safety.”
The U.S.’s aggressive “gender-affirming” approach to claims of gender dysphoria has been encouraged by the Biden administration and, in particular, Dr. Rachel [Richard] Levine, the transgender assistant secretary for health for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
In February, Levine promised gender clinic staff at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center (CCMC) the idea of transgender children will soon be normalized and that the work of gender clinic employees is supported by the “highest levels of the federal government.”
The transgender medical industry appears to have struck oil in the United States, according to Nanette Holt, editor at The Epoch Times.
Appearing as a guest Tuesday on The Tennessee Star Report, Holt stressed one of the primary factors driving the transgender medical industry’s insistence on its radical gender-affirming model is money.
“I can’t explain the hearts of people. I wish I could,” Holt said. “But I will tell you what seems to be driving this troubling, exploding, burgeoning trend, and that is money.”
Holt explained her team’s research findings.
“We really did some deep digging, and we were pretty shocked when we realized that the transgender industry right now represents $1.9 billion a year just on the surgeries,” she said, adding:
That’s not including all the implements that are involved in cross-sex hormones, puberty blockers, and other things. That’s just the surgeries to try to attempt this change of gender. And market research shows that it is supposed to surge over the next few years to a $4.9 billion industry. There are a lot of people with a lot of reasons who want to see this perpetuated.
Transgender activists who work in gender clinics are often able to convince fearful and gullible parents that if they don’t consent to immediate gender-affirming treatments for their child, the risk is high for a “dead” child via suicide.
The prevalence of radical gender ideology in the United States has driven the country to offer children greater access to transgender medical interventions than is now available in Europe, a study by Do No Harm found.
Compared to the United States, “Europe goes a safer and more scientific route,” said the diverse group of physicians, healthcare professionals, patients, and policymakers seeking to “protect healthcare from a radical, divisive, and discriminatory ideology.”
In 2022, the movement to safeguard gender-dysphoric youth made pivotal ground. Sweden & England followed Finland in sharply curbing the provision of hormones & surgery. The year ended with a leading Dutch newspaper questioning the Dutch gender clinic./1https://t.co/IuqC51ZhWq
— SEGM (@segm_ebm) January 2, 2023
Following its analysis of the laws and policies of European countries, Do No Harm concluded, “the United States is the most permissive country when it comes to the legal and medical gender transition of children.”
“Only France comes close,” Do No Harm’s report explained, “yet unlike the U.S., France’s medical authorities have recognized the uncertainties involved in transgender medical care for children and have urged ‘great caution’ in its use.”
The European “consensus,” the organization continued, is “grounded in medical science and common sense,” while the U.S. “should reconsider the gender-affirming care model to protect the youngest and most vulnerable patients.”
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Susan Berry, PhD, is national education editor at The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]
