NIH study claims trans teens given hormone drugs enjoy 'significant ... trends now
A Government-funded study that endorses sex change drugs for children as young as 12 has come under fire from experts and campaigners.
The research - the largest of its kind - monitored around 315 teenage Americans with gender dysphoria who received puberty blockers or hormone therapy drugs.
Results from surveys carried out every six months for two years showed patients reported significant improvements in happiness, confidence and anxiety.
But Patrick Brown, a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center think-tank, told DailyMail.com the two-year study period was too narrow a snapshot for young people to fully grasp the impact the change could have on their life.
In recent months, there has been a string of 'de-transitioners' who have come forward saying they regret taking hormone drugs or having genital reconstruction surgery.
Patrick Brown (left), a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, said that two years is not long enough a time to decide whether hormone care helped these teens' mental health. Dr Jay Richards (right), a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said the study 'tells us nothing'
Mr Brown said: 'Two years is far too short a time to have any true evaluation of these kinds of interventions that have long-term consequences.
'It's too soon to tell which participants might experience regret over something life-altering without fully understanding its costs.'
Hormone therapy is an umbrella term for drugs that boosts the levels of hormones naturally created by a person of the opposite sex, giving a person the desired characteristics.
Transmen receive testosterone, while transwomen will receive estriadol.
The latest research was led by Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago and funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
It was published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).
A large portion of the study group was between the ages 14 and 18 when they started the treatment.
Researchers report that 180 of them had previously received puberty blockers.
Participants were given a check-up every six months for the first two years after they started the hormone treatment, where they were surveyed on mental health.
On average, the teens' symptoms of gender dysphoria had lessoned, and they felt their appearance more matched the gender they identified with.
Patients also reported that they were more satisfied with their lives after they had started the treatment.
Over the study period, two participants died by suicide, and two others suffered a severe anxiety attack.
Sinead Watson, from Glasgow, Scotland, lived as man from the age of 23 and had a double mastectomy, but realized at age 27 that she had made a terrible mistake, and de-transitioned at 28. She spoke out on social media this week about widespread harassment from the transgender community she was leaving: 'I was sent rape and death threats,' posted Watson, pictured earlier this year. 'I was called a hideous freak show.'
Researchers also noted reduced rates of depression and anxiety symptoms over the study period.
'Our results provide a strong scientific basis that gender-affirming care is crucial for the psychological well-being of our patients,' Dr Robert Garofalo, co-author of the study from Lurie Children's, said in a statement.
