Trans Kids’ Healthcare: Are We Getting It Wrong?

Science Vs

Spotify Studios

Science, Education, Health & Fitness

4.4 • 11.7K Ratings

🗓️ 6 June 2024

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Health care for trans kids has been in the spotlight, with battles over what the science says and tons of U.S. states restricting the care that children can get. And then there’s a new report out of the UK, called the Cass Review, saying that a bunch of the evidence that doctors have been relying on to treat trans kids is “remarkably weak.” So what’s going on here? What is the best health care for trans kids? We sort through the science with Professor Stephen Russell, Dr. Cal Horton, and Dr. Ada Cheung. UPDATE 6/6/24: In a previous version of this episode, we said a study was published this year, when it was actually published last year. The episode has been updated. Mental health resources, including suicide lifelines, for around the world: spotify.com/resources Trans Lifeline: A Trans peer support hotline: 1-877-565-8860 Trevor Project: crisis support services to LGBTQ young people: Call 1-866-488-7386 or Text ‘START’ to 678-678 Find our transcript here: bit.ly/ScienceVsTransKidsCassReviewTranscript Here are links to our previous episodes about the science of being transgender and misinformation about care for trans kids. In this episode, we cover: (00:00) The battle over care for trans kids (02:45) What to do when a kid wants to change their name and pronouns (13:44) Do puberty blockers help trans kids’ mental health? (20:44) Does hormone therapy help trans people’s mental health? (25:25) How often are people "retransitioning"? This episode was produced by Meryl Horn and Wendy Zukerman, with help from Michelle Dang and Rose Rimler. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Fact checking by Eva Dasher. Consulting by Rebecca Kling. Mix and sound design by Bobby Lord. Music written by Bobby Lord, Bumi Hidaka and Peter Leonard. Thanks so much to all the researchers we spoke with for this episode, including Blake Cavve, Dr. Doug VanderLaan, and Dr. Quinnehtukqut McLamore. And a very special thanks to the trans folks and their families we talked to, Christopher Suter, the Zukerman Family and Joseph Lavelle Wilson. Science Vs is a Spotify Studios Original. Listen for free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us and tap the bell for episode notifications. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, I'm Wendy Zuckerman and you're listening to science versus.
0:03.4	Before we get started, this episode discusses suicide and self-harm a little bit.
0:11.1	So please take care while you're listening and we'll put some
0:14.2	resources in the show notes. Today on the show, kids who are transgender. It's a
0:20.0	topic we've covered before, but there's new research, a new battle amongst researchers,
0:25.8	and a new election, which is all putting transgender health care into the spotlight like
0:30.9	never before. Texas, now the largest state to block gender affirming care for transgender...
0:37.0	This morning, Idaho and Indiana are officially banning gender affirming care for transgender youth.
0:42.0	So-called gender affirming care for transgender youth.
0:42.6	So-called gender affirming care, ridiculous.
0:46.2	If you are forcing a trans child to go through puberty when they are trans,
0:51.0	that is tantamount to torture.
0:53.0	Some politicians even want to make it harder for kids to do things like changing their
0:57.1	pronouns or names to fit their gender.
1:00.2	And they say that all of this talk of being trans, it's just a phase that they'll grow out of.
1:06.6	And so all of this politics has been bubbling away.
1:10.0	But then just a few months ago, a nearly 400 page scientific report for the UK government called
1:15.9	the Casse review came out.
1:17.9	And it kind of sounds like it agrees with many of those politicians.
1:22.4	It said that supporting a kid who's trans could
1:24.6	actually be harmful for them and that the evidence behind medicines like
1:28.8	puberty blockers or hormones which are sometimes given to trans teens, is basically garbage.
	...

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