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The Splendor of the Human Person: A Catholic Vision of the Person and Sexuality

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21 Archdiocese of Denver studies indicate that cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers raise the risk of heart disease, blood clots, strokes, depression, osteoporosis and arrested bone growth, crippling joint pain, cancer, and suicidal ideations, with the long-term consequences acknowledged as "unknown." 20 Surgical transition includes what are referred to as "top" and "bottom" surgeries. "Top" surgeries can include revisions to a person's hair, forehead, nose, jaw, neck and breast area. Some aspects of these surgeries can be revers- ible. "Bottom" surgeries, on the other hand, are irreversible. These include amputation, castration and vaginoplasty (construction of a faux vagina) for feminizing surgeries or hysterectomy/oophorectomy (removal of the uterus and ovaries) and phalloplasty (construction of a prosthetic penis) for masculin- izing surgeries. The sobering reality here is that fully functioning organs are mutilated to produce a counterfeit form. Function and fertility are destroyed for a cosmetic counterfeit. Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria (ROGD) Parents and some clinicians report a new and increasing phenomenon, de- scribed as "Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria" (ROGD), in which teenagers who never previously manifested any question about their sexual identity suddenly announce their desire to transition, typically after exposure to the concept through peers and social media. The phenomenon requires more research, but initial observations describe a sudden unhappiness with one's sex that happens particularly in female adolescents who showed no signs of discomfort with their sex before puberty. 21 20 American College of Pediatricians, "Gender Dysphoria in Children" (November 2018): https:// www.acpeds.org/the-college-speaks/position-statements/gender-dysphoria-in-children; Paul. W. Hruz, "Deficiencies in Scientific Evidence for Medical Management of Gender Dysphoria," The Linacre Quarterly 87, no. 1 (2020): 34-42, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/ abs/10.1177/0024363919873762?journalCode=lqra. 21 L. Littman, "Correction: Parent Reports of Adolescents and Young Adults Perceived to Show Signs of a Rapid Onset of Gender Dysphoria," PLOS One 14, no. 3 (Mar. 19, 2019), https:// doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0214157; L. Littman, "The Use of Methodologies in Littman (2018) Is Consistent with the Use of Methodologies in Other Studies Contributing to the Field of Gender Dysphoria Research: Response to Restar (2019)." Letters, Archives of Sexual Behavior (Jan. 17 2020), https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01631-z. TERMINOLOGY RELATED TO GENDER "TRANSITION"

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