Town and Country Newspaper

News Article

Who Makes Your Decisions?

Written by Larry Roeder, Editor
2012-02-23

Wow! Just when you think you’ve heard it all (or are just sick of it all) regarding the battle of privacy, choice, morals and sex between the hardcore factions of the liberals and conservatives in our country, the medical community lobs another grenade into our thinking.

In the past week, news reports started emerging about a growing number of teens and younger children, who think they were born the wrong sex, getting questionable support from parents and doctors for sex-changing treatments. This information is from a report in the Pediatrics medical journal and it made the rounds of most of the daily newspapers in the past few days.

Ethical questions arose about whether treating children with puberty-blocking drugs or hormones is something that should be done at the request of a parent or guardian with few guidelines and little oversight.

In one instance, the report cites an 8-year-old second-grader in Los Angeles as 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.

Dr. Norman Spack is author of one of the published reports and a director of one of the nation’s first gender identity medical clinics at Children’s Hospital in Boston. He feels that pediatricians need to know these kids exist and that they deserve treatment. Recent research suggests these children may have brain differences more similar to the opposite sex.

Some of these children are psychiatrically diagnosed with “gender identity disorder.” Spack estimated that 1 in 10,000 children have the condition.

According to guidelines from the Endocrine Society, transgender hormone treatment should not be given before puberty begins and then the puberty-blocking drugs should continue until age 16. The injections cost about $1,000 each month. Reportedly, the treatments have taken place in Texas and California.

Occasionally pretending to be the opposite sex is common in young children. Dr. Margaret Moon, a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ bioethics committee believes that the parents’ motives of offering sex-changing treatment to those under 18 should be closely examined.

Let’s be honest. Can you imagine the harm that can be done to a child if an irreversible treatment is performed too early? Under what circumstances could you make that decision for your child?

Right now there are pros and cons to the use of the puberty-blocking drugs. Some doctors report that the effects are reversible, others say they are not. Only about 100 girls and boys have received the treatment between 1998 and 2010.

It is an issue that goes beyond religious beliefs and the number of children affected by it will grow in the next few years. People would be wise to investigate it now. Ask the questions and demand the answers. Study the issue and know what you’re talking about.

Don’t wait for politicians and activists to make your mind up for you.

Return to Previous Page