Chapter 5: Whistleblower
-Washington University Pediatric Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital
-In 2023, we all became aware of gender clinic malfeasance that was happening for years
-labeled a “traitor to the trans community”
-she revealed a parade of malpractice and deception inflicted on vulnerable children and their parents, calling it “morally and medically appalling”
-Jamie Reed showed that from 2020-2022 600 children being transitioned about 74% of these children were assigned female at birth
-children coming to the center: autism, ADHD, depression, anxiety, PTSD, trauma histories, OCD, eating disorders
-instead of treating the the condition, the doctors just prescribed puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones
-even kids with diagnoses is schizophrenia or bipolar given only one solution: transition
-one size fits all model of care
-doctors dismissed their young patients’ emotional disorders as well as the parents concerns
-clinicians were cheerleaders for transition
Reed exposed:
-puberty blockers worsen the mental health outcomes of children
-children who have not contemplated suicide, but after being on puberty blockers have attempted suicide after
-puberty blockers force children to go through premature menopause
-puberty blockers decrease bone density
***July 2022, FDA issued a “black box warning” for puberty blockers
-evidence shows that the medications causes brain swelling and loss of vision
-side effects: mood changes, headaches, nervousness, anxiety, agitation, confusion, delusions, insomnia, depression, mood swings, suicidal ideation, early menopause, lung disease, sexual dysfunction, inability to experience organisms, and genital atrophy
-puberty blockers cause osteoporosis, loss of bone density, spinal fractures, vertebral damage
-children and parents inadequately informed of the risks
Puberty is not a Disorder:
-it’s a complex biological process
-puberty isn’t an illness
-you can’t synthetically turn on and off puberty like a light switch
-hormones restructure the brain
-puberty blocker interrupt the natural process so have cognitive & emotional consequences
-normal puberty works on building brain balancing that deals with rationally weighing actions, predicting results, and balances pros and cons
-need to allow the prefrontal cortex is the last area of the brain to fully mature
-It is the thinking and planning part of the brain
-the amygdala is the feelings part
-puberty helps young adults regulate their emotions, control impulsivity, and make better decisions
-puberty blockers may threaten brain maturation and cognitive maturity
-puberty blockers potentially trap kids in a permanent gender-identity crisis
-puberty blockers are not safe and are not reversible
-you can’t pause puberty without a price
***WPATH now acknowledges that there is “reproductive regret” in young adults left infertile from medical transition
“The young brain is biologically and socially immature, tends toward short-term risk taking, does not possess the ability to comprehend long term consequences and is highly influenced by peers”
“Children cannot consent, and therefore should not be asked to consent to being treated with puberty blockers for gender dysphoria”
Dangers of synthetic puberty:
-Gender-Affirming care (GAC) disrupts every body system during puberty
-testosterone is a lifelong treatment as may end up having to take blood pressure, cholesterol, sleep apnea, and diabetic medications
-patients taking cross-sex hormones experienced near-constant abdominal pain
-Estrogen can cause liver damage, forever having a micro-penis, unable to orgasm
-Testosterone causes permanent female damage as the voice drops, beards sprout, body fat redistributed, aggression increases, mood can be unpredictable, severe atrophy of vaginal tissue, vaginal laceration
-men on cross-sex hormones ar 40 times more likely to get breast cancer, stoke, heart attacks, and deep vein clots, no viable sperm making reproduction impossible
-women on testosterone report severe headaches, intracranial hypertension, visual loss from damage to the optic nerve, clots in the veins causing life-threatening pulmonary embolism, no viable eggs making reproduction impossible
***A Sterile Generation
***creating a whole cohort of kids with atypical genitals