Informative Essay - Transgender

...

Some people know and fully understand their identities as children, while others go through most of their childhood struggling and feeling as if they do not belong. A study from the TransYouth Project “found that trans children as young as 5 years old respond the psychological gender-association tests, which evaluate how people view themselves within gender roles, as quickly and consistently as those who don’t identify as trans” (Lopez, 2015). Some children are being treated with hormone therapy as early as puberty. A prevalent ethical question that exists is: how young is too young?

There are many concerns about children undergoing medical transitioning. The age of children who are identifying themselves as transgender is continuing to decrease. As a result, pediatric endocrinologists are administering hormone therapy to these young children. But how young is too young to allow a child to make such a decision? “The likelihood is too high that the child would be unable to fully comprehend the scope of a decision that carries significant, permanent consequences, particularly because the decision to surgically change gender is based upon a conception of gender that can fluctuate during adolescent years” (Abel, 2014). On the contrary, denying such treatments may enable a child to feel depressed, violently harm themselves or others, or even cause suicidal thoughts. Debates and ethical concerns that are associated with transgender youths continue to spiral, as it is nearly impossible to know what is the “right” path to be taken in such scenarios.

One temporary solution to give trans children more time to explore their identity is the administering of puberty blocking hormones. The purpose of this treatment is to push off puberty so that the child is not affected by “a puberty that is not consistent with their self-identity” (Tishelman, Kaufman, Mandel, Shumer, Edwards-Leeper & Spack, 2015). Once a child is around the age of 16, and after psychotherapy and psychological evaluations, irreversible medial treatments may begin. It is so important, especially with youths, to ensure that their decision is well thought through and is mentally stable. Unlike puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones are irreversible, and also may cause complications, one relating to fertility (Tishelman et al., 2015).

Many individuals live in a chronic state of conflict between their physical identity and self-identity. While sexual reassignment surgery has become more widely accepted in today’s society, prevalent health risks and ethical concerns that accompany such a surgery exist. It is essential that all treatments and procedures are up to par with the standard of care to ensure safety both mentally and physically. Ethically speaking, as a doctor treating a transgender, especially a transgender youth, it is essential to ensure that the patient is ready to undergo this irreversible life change.