19
Archdiocese of Denver
longer a child is socially transitioned, the more difficult it may be for the child
to "desist" and reclaim his or her natural sexual identity.
No matter how well-intentioned, helping a child to launch into any stage of
"transition" risks life-long harm to that child. Disturbing a child's body and
mind by facilitating a denial of the child's very nature constitutes child abuse.
Is there any other area of life in which adults let young children create their own
reality and dictate it to adults? Until recently, a child's identity confusion (or
gender dysphoria) was addressed with patience, letting it resolve naturally, or
through family therapy to address underlying causes. Children and adolescents
were not encouraged to transition, and studies show that the onset of puberty
often helped the child align identity with biological sex. By adulthood, a strong
majority of children who struggled with identity or dysphoria but were not
"affirmed" in their desired identity came to accept their sex.
17
The long-term damage to the bodies of young people subject to "hormonal
therapy" to treat gender incongruence is devastating. Puberty-blocking hor-
mones interrupt the normal development of the skeletal, neurological and en-
docrinological systems in ways that cannot simply be "made up" later. In some
cases, puberty-blocking hormones will destroy their future fertility – which
could lead to deep remorse throughout their adult lives. The use of puberty
blockers in children who have gender dysphoria or incongruence is new, and
poorly studied. The few studies available show that nearly 100% of children
who use puberty blockers will go on to use cross-sex hormones, leaving them
permanently sterile.
18
The use of cross-hormone therapy to cause feminizing or masculinizing
physical changes in children is increasing at an alarming rate. It has already be-
17 Michael K. Laidlaw, et al., "Letter to the Editor: 'Endocrine Treatment of Gender-Dysphoric/
Gender-Incongruent Persons: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline,'" The Journal
of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 104, no. 3 (March 2019): 686-687, https://academic.
oup.com/jcem/article-abstract/104/3/686/5198654?redirectedFrom=fulltext.
18 Norman P. Spack, et al., "Children and Adolescents with Gender Identity Disorder Referred
to a Pediatric Medical Center," Pediatrics 129, no. 3 (March, 2012): http://pediatrics.
aappublications.org/content/129/3/418.long.
TERMINOLOGY RELATED TO GENDER "TRANSITION"
