In the past few years, there has been a sharp increase in pushing puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and reassignment surgeries on minors. But why the rush? Are there any associated health risks for children, and if so, what are they?
In the insightful documentary, Trans Mission: What’s the Rush to Reassign Gender?, the filmmakers interview pediatricians, a biologist, a psychiatrist, de-transitioners, and parents of minors who are identifying as transgender. The conclusion? “Medical gender reassignment is not enough to improve functioning and relieve psychiatric comorbidities among adolescents with gender dysphoria.” Most of the child candidates for gender transition do not actually suffer from the medical condition known as gender dysphoria. Instead, they are being pressured and encouraged to consider transitioning by adults.
In the documentary, several parents of transgender-identifying minor children say doctors are pressuring them to affirm their child’s gender identity. They are told that not embracing their child’s gender identity would put their child at risk of depression and suicide. One mother said a doctor told her, “Would you rather have a live son or a dead daughter?” However, in an article entitled “Suicide or Transition: The Only Options for Gender Dysphoric Kids?,” doctors of psychology J. Michael Bailey and Ray Blanchard write, “[T]he best scientific evidence suggests that gender transition is not necessarily to prevent suicide…There is no persuasive evidence that gender transition procedures reduce gender dysphoric children’s likelihood of killing themselves.”
While the evidence doesn’t show gender transition decreasing the likelihood of suicide, the evidence does show the destructive side effects of taking hormones or puberty blockers, especially for minors. Keira Bell, whose story is highlighted in the documentary, went through gender procedures when she was 17 to make herself look more like a boy and started going by the name Quincy. Today, she has de-transitioned and filed a lawsuit against the gender clinic that allowed her to make such life-altering and destructive choices as a minor. Keira says, “I was allowed to run with this idea that I had almost like a fantasy, as a teenager…and it has affected me in the long term as an adult.”
Keira Bell is not alone in her desire for justice and to transition back to her biological sex. Although sadly, her life, just like others, will never fully be the same. An article entitled “‘Hundreds’ of Young Trans People Seeking Help to Return to Original Sex” quoted Charlie Evans, a British woman who had previously identified as male for 10 years, “I’m in communication with 19 to 20-year-olds who have had full gender reassignment surgery, who wish they hadn’t, and their dysphoria hasn’t been relieved, they don’t feel better for it.” Instead of feeling better, vulnerable children are left depressed, traumatized, mutilated, and sterile.
While many “gender-affirming” doctors and therapists say that puberty blockers are reversible, they are not. More likely than not, the child will be rendered infertile because their reproductive system will never develop properly. Among other concerns, these puberty-blocking drugs increase the risk of blood clots, strokes, heart problems, and reproductive organ function.
The documentary stresses the vulnerable position of these children and the challenges their parents face. Many of these parents are unaware that their children are going to therapy, taking synthetic hormones, or being called different pronouns at school. In addition, some parents in divorce situations have learned that their spouse is encouraging puberty blockers or surgery. But several parents featured in the documentary are seeking legal action and standing up to protect their children.
One mother who is not affirming her daughter’s transition said, “The reason I am being difficult in this is not because I don’t love her. It is because I love her so much that I am willing to take on this whole ideology just to protect her from potentially making an irreversible decision in her future. And even if that means she wants to hate me and she doesn’t want to talk to me, I love her enough that I’m willing to keep fighting for her.”
The fight against the transgender agenda is a fight to protect the hearts, minds, bodies, and souls of the next generation. Minors are being sterilized, mutilated, abused, and brainwashed, and these abhorrent actions must be brought to justice.
You can watch the documentary Trans Mission: What’s the Rush to Reassign Gender? for free here. To learn more about God’s design for human sexuality and marriage, you can read “Biblical Principles for Human Sexuality” from FRC’s Center for Biblical Worldview. You can also find more FRC resources on this topic at frc.org/sexuality.