020 Transgender care for minors; a developmental perspective

Abstract

Transgender adolescents have increasingly drawn interest and attention of society, media and health care providers. They present with a wish for medical affirming clinical care in larger numbers. Early intervention consisting of puberty suppression followed by affirming hormones has proofed to improve psychological functioning and relief gender dysphoria. However, medical intervening in a developing body is not without controversies. Knowledge on gender identity development at different ages is of importance when making treatment decisions. The Center of Expertise on Gender Dysphoria of the Amsterdam University Medical Center has a long tradition of providing such care combined with research evaluating this care. The presentation will provide the current knowledge on gender identity development in gender normative as well as gender non-conforming youth. It will also present the promising results of the available outcome studies. Finally, some ethical consideration including around fertility preservation will be discussed.