Washington D.C., Oct 15, 2017 / 14:57 pm
Children who struggle to match their gender identity with their biological sex should not be pushed into transgender therapies, but given treatments that help treat the underlying cause of the dysphoria, said doctors in the field.
From a medical standpoint, deciding not to offer hormonal therapy to children who experience gender dysphoria is "not a judgment" on the child, but a matter of the best medical healthcare, said Dr. Paul Hruz, associate professor of Pediatrics, Endocrinology, Cell Biology and Physiology at the Washington University of Medicine.
"It's the best outcome, because they're not exposed to all these harms that we know they will experience if they move forward" with the hormone treatments, he said.
Dr. Hruz also voiced serious concerns about treating young people with intense and potentially dangerous off-label hormone therapy, without subjecting the regimen to rigorous scientific testing.