Transgender at Five

[mcgee]

www.washingtonpost.com/local/transgender-at-five/2012/05/19/gIQABfFkbU_story.html

A very interesting read...

[ttt]

I don't know how i feel about this. If psychiatrists and psychologists won't even diagnose other mental conditions that young because it's too early to know how their brains will develop, how can they diagnose something like this so young?

[sparrowsong]

It's really interesting, that a two year old would be so sure about something like gender. Really makes you wonder if we are souls placed in bodies, and sometimes the body really is wrong. The brain is a fascinating thing.

I watched a pretty good movie about a transgender child recently. Ma Vie en Rose. In French with subtitles.

[heyjude]

I think this is one of those areas we will only learn more about, i.e. how to recognize and treat, as time goes on.

I'm interested in hearing more from the doctor who says 80 percent of his patients with gender identity issues eventually conform to their biological gender and that the issue is just a phase.

The article also mentions body dysmorphia and that these kids have a form of dysmorphia. But in other non gender related dysmorphia problems, do medical professionals suggest placating the dysmorphia as a way of treating it? I don't think so.

I'm not saying, at all, that people shouldn't transition. I just think as time goes on and as more people learn about gender identity and more people transition we will probably fine tune our approach, especially as it relates to young kids.

[overture]

When I read about this I always wonder how I would feel about allowing my own child to go on puberty blockers. I'm glad to know that it's reversible until 15 or 16 when they are able to take hormone injections. At that age, I think a kid knows for sure.

I wonder if any female to male transgender teens have had their eggs harvested. Or if that's even legal.

[LoveTrains]

There was a story int he boston Globe a few months ago that was pretty similar. It told of identical twins from Maine - and one was transgendered and the other wasn't. It was a very interesting story.

I support the use of those hormone blockers in young children because if they get older and decide they want to conform to their biological gender, they can stop taking the hormone therapy and then they will go through puberty.

You can probably google the story from the Globe if you are interested.