Critics Slam Boston Doctor Who Offers Sex Change Treatment to Kids

[CatWoman]

Boston’s Children’s Hospital bills itself as the hospital for children — and now it’s also the hospital for children who want a sex change, a procedure some critics are calling “barbaric.”

Dr. Norman Spack, a pediatric specialist at the hospital, has launched a clinic for transgendered kids — boys who feel like girls, girls who want to be boys — and he’s opening his doors to patients as young as 7.

Spack offers his younger patients counseling and drugs that delay the onset of puberty. The drugs stop the natural flood of hormones that would make it difficult to have a sex alteration later in life, allowing patients more time to decide whether they want to make the change.

Spack also offers some teenagers hormone therapy, a drastic step that changes the way they grow and develop. While the effects of drug treatments can be stopped, long-term hormone therapy can be irreversible, causing permanent infertility in both sexes.

For some, that trade-off is worth it. Transgendered children are deeply troubled and have a “high level of suicide attempts,” Spack told the Boston Globe. “I’ve never seen any patient make after they’ve started hormonal treatment,” he said.

But not all doctors are convinced, and some say the treatments do much more harm than good.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,356592,00.html

[LeftyMom]

1. So now somebody at Johns Hopkins has an issue with surgery and hormones for kids?

That's damn funny, since they're the ones who pioneered and pushed for pushed gender assignment, surgery and hormones for intersexed infants, when their own data showed they were happier without it.

But I guess that's okay when the goal is to push gender compliance and a heteronormative viewpoint, but totally wrong when what's being pushed is oh, I don't know, the happiness and well-being of the patient.

[enlightenment]

2. That's a tough call.

My child is transgendered, but didn't start the process until 19 (now 28). It was as much a process of discovery as anything else. I realise that in some cases there is an actual chromosomal difference - in that case, I don't see any harm at all in starting the process very young. But I'm not entirely certain it is wise to begin irreversible change at such a young age when the only "indicator" is the child's self-assessment. On the other hand, had I been more aware when my child was very young, I might have picked up on clues that I missed - and that might have altered my thinking about it.

hmm. Need to think about this one some more!

Thank you for posting.

[hedgehog]

3. I was thinking that I agreed with you, but then this question occurred to me -

why would a child even think of being transgendered unless the child actually was transgendered? Straight kids don't decide to become straight although gay kids may strive mightily to become straight to match society's expectations. If a child claims to be transgendered, it's probably a fact.

[enlightenment]

8. Does the child really think of themselves as transgendered,

though?

I don't know the answer to that question, by the way! Straight and gay are a different issue, I think - they are about sexual preference, rather than gender preference. Trans people run the same gamet of sexual preference as everyone else (slightly complicated by labeling. I still remember a hysterically funny conversation I had with my kid - who had come out at 16 - after he started his transition. "So", says I, "do you still like girls?" "Yes", says he. "So", says I, "does that mean you're straight now?" "No, mom", *long-suffering sigh* "it means I'm queer." "But I thought you were queer", says I. "No, mom, this is different" . . . by this point we were both laughing so hard we couldn't breathe. It's an interesting philosophical question!)

My concern about self-assessment at a very young age is whether or not a 6 or 7 year old is capable of fully articulating what they really feel. How do you form your decision without "feeding" them ideas? What does it mean to a 7 year old when they say "I don't feel right in my body" - is that because they don't like their parts? Because their body is changing? Because they want what their friend may have (a penis or vagina)- something that is very common at that age? Or are they really articulating a fact?

Children lie - particularly to please others. Particularly young children. They don't consider it lying, it's just a way of making people happy. Particularly people asking them questions. That's why you frequently get fabulous stories from kids when you ask them something simple like "what did you do today?"

I think if a child begins to voluntarily articulate gender dissatisfaction at a young age that it should be CAREFULLY (without leading) explored. If it persists, then there is may be an issue to address.

[LeftyMom]

5. But not doing anything is also irreversible.

Because puberty kicks in, and does all sorts of irreversible changes that can't ever be wiped away completely by hormones or surgery, not to mention that it's undoubtedly quite traumatic to see one's body becoming more wrong by the day.

As I've mentioned before, a student at my high school was MTF and had started hormones and had top surgery very early in puberty. Not only was she very happy and socially accepted, she looked completely female. She was, in all honesty, one of the prettier girls in school.

That's the advangage of starting early, and not waiting to avoid social criticism or discomfort- there aren't years of masculinization or feminization at puberty to be overcome. She's not going to have to have her jaw shaved down, she's not going to need laser treatment to keep from growing a beard, she's going to be able to roll out of bed first thing in the morning, step outside to get the paper, and look like a woman, without any alteration or makeup or elaborate costuming. She just gets to be who she is.

[enlightenment]

11. I agree. This is a double-edged sword.

I will say, however, that gender reassignment is a developing field.

Yes, it's tough to be an MtF and hit puberty - it would be great if the male characteristics never developed. But it's not the only thing to consider. I'm glad your student had an easy time of it.

It's tough to be an FtM and hit puberty, too - there is growing evidence that a lot of FtM girls deliberately pack on the pounds in order to disguise their breasts and hips. And even if they get the hormones, the hysterectomy, and the mastectomy (which they will still need for nipple replacement and to remove milk glands) BEFORE they hit puberty, they will still have a vagina - which is a hell of a lot harder to deal with in a boys' bathroom than a penis in a girls' loo. You can only use the stall so often before the other boys start asking questions. How special it must be to go through the horror of discovering your male sexuality when you don't have a penis! (And phalloplasty? Not even CLOSE to being good enough yet!)

This is an incredibly complicated issue and I don't think it should be over-simplified. Had I realised when my son was 11 or 12 that she wanted to be a male, I'd have done something about it. But I didn't - and he never articulated it to me. I'm not entirely certain he worked through it until he was in his late teens. Like I said, it was a process.

Every case is different, and I think that needs to come first. My concern isn't for starting kids on reassignment at 11 or 12 - it's about making decisions about very young (6 and 7 year olds) children; it's also about the tendency we have to "lump" people together - because child "A" manifests this way, every child will manifest this way . . . because case "B" worked out this way, everyone should be treated in a similar fashion.

[wtmusic]

6. This seems very wrong to me.

Kids' self-assessment -- their minds -- are changing as much as their bodies, or more. They are extremely vulnerable to peer pressure, and I can imagine a situation where an offhand comment or insult might lead them to make an irreversible change in their bodies before it's warranted.

[cynatnite]

13. You think they would offer this to any kid who walked through the door?

It would probably involve a lot of counseling with the kid and the parents before anything is done. They have to tread carefully, IMO.

[wtmusic]

14. Regardless.

Kids identities' are evolving. Their emotional identities are to an extent the result of physical changes, which at that age might not even have occurred yet.

Who has the authority to make irreversible changes in a child's natural physical state, including the child him/herself? This reminds me of the high school girl who died in breast enhancement surgery, and I can see a day where mommies who wanted a daughter instead of a son (a la Rilke) convince Bobby he's really Roberta and physically make him one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rilke

[cynatnite]

15. Trained professionals have to be involved at every level...

plus ethical reviews and quality control would need to be in place so as to avoid unethical and questionable practices. This is a huge part of medical field. It involves every aspect of patient care including pyschological well being. They will not allow a parent to force these kinds of things on a child and it would be easily discovered with counseling.

The teenager who died has nothing to do with this. She was not attempting to change her gender.

[MannyGoldstein]

4. I've Worked With Children's Hospital A Good Bit

They are very smart and generally very good people. This sounds pretty odd to me, but I'm guessing that it's the best thing to do.

[noonwitch]

7. How can anyone be sure that a 7 year old is "transgendered"?

A 7 year old can't be sure about something that is permanent, nor can his or her parents.

I have a problem with transgender surgery, anyways. I know that I will be blasted for saying this, but I see it as a form of self-mutiliation. It means permanently altering one's body through surgery-and the surgeries never end, for male to female transsexuals. I had a friend from church who had the surgery-he was constantly getting facelifts to counteract his aging male skin. It also will never be a real female body-the surgically created vagina/clitoris will never have the sensitivity of a natural one. The chromosome test will still say XY.

I am not saying that I would discriminate against someone who is transgendered, or that I would think that he or she was not a human being with rights and value. I would not deliberately be cruel to someone who is transgendered, nor make fun of him or her. I just don't think it's right, and don't expect my tax dollars to pay for it.

[FreeState]

9. I want my tax dollars paying for anything that makes people healthy

and it does not matter what you think of Transgendered persons choices thank God. I have many transgendered friends and many of them would be dead now if they had not had the surgery. Its a personal choice.

By the way if someone is transgendered the correct way to refer to them is by there correct gender.

[cynatnite]

12. The article says they offer counseling...

I highly doubt they'll be giving this to any kid who walked through the door and asked for it. It's to help kids...not hurt them. I support my tax dollars going to this.

[SteelPenguin]

16. I agree with you

It's not a popular stance on this board and generally posts of your nature will get negative reactions, but you're not alone. I also see it as a form of self-mutilation.

[FreeState]

17. Do you have any friends that are Transgendered?

I mean real have them over for dinner, call them when you need something friends? Or are you basing your opinion on your own discomfort and lack of understanding that gender re-assignment surgery saves lives?

[SteelPenguin]

20. No

I could lie but i'm not going to.

Look, i'm like the above poster. I would be friends with a Transgendered person. I'd have no problem with them in my house, at my table, watching my children, etc. If someone is born one physical sex, and identifies as another, I have no problem with them living however they wish. I have done some, though not extremely extensive, research into the area when I was a graduate anthropology student and did a few papers on gender, particularly cultures with more than two genders, such as Tahiti which has a Physically Male living as female gender that's fully accepted. It doesn't squick me or make me uncomfortable.

I also understand that there are people in our society that are in dire need of help because of our rigid two gender system (really you could argue that we have more, but not officially) and that people do commit suicide over it.

I'm not arguing that it should be ignored, just that I think the surgical reassignment is not the correct approach. Living as a different gender is one thing, but when you need to cut pieces off your body in order to feel better about yourself, particularly which requires modern surgical procedures to make happen, then you're entering the realm of self mutilation in my mind.

I'll just never see physical mutilation as a valid form of treatment in this regard. There must be other ways to help people that are suffering besides chopping off pieces of their body.

[cynatnite]

10. I watched a report some years ago about a child...

born with both male and female organs. The doctors explained that because of this the child could pick which sex he/she wanted to be. I can't recall which gender was ultimately chosen, but I remember thinking how wonderful it was that everyone involved went above and beyond in making sure the child could live with whatever choice was made. It was very compelling to watch.

I think this is a wonderful idea because I do believe there are plenty of children who need this.

[BlooInBloo]

18. I would think that waiting for the kid to mature would be beneficial...

But then again, I'm not a doctor.

EDIT: I mean, isn't that what they say to girls who want boob jobs? And isn't a sex change just a wee bit more significant?

[CatWoman]

19. which explains the "Boobs in an hour" retail chain

:hi: