Affirming, Balanced, and Comprehensive Care for Transgender Teenagers.

Abstract

The last decade has seen a substantial shift regarding psychological and medical approaches to children and adolescents seeking care for gender dysphoria. Gender identity is now recognized as existing along a spectrum rather then as dichotomous male-female categories.1 The number of gender identity clinics in academic pediatric medical centers has increased dramatically over the last decade.2 The nuances around decision-making regarding interventions for children at various ages and stages of development are still controversial. The World Professional Association for Transgender Health standards of care, now in their seventh edition, guide treatment around the world. Still, there are plenty of unknowns that lead clinicians and multidisciplinary teams to individualize their decisions and their approaches to adolescents and families.3 The standards of care and the ways that they are operationalized in the steadily growing number of clinics has raised awareness of 2 fundamental truths: Every person has a gender identity. Gender identity may or may not match a person’s sexual anatomy. Clinicians who manage children and adolescents with diverse gender identities face questions … Address correspondence to John D. Lantos, MD, Children’s Mercy Kansas City, 2401 Gillham Rd, Kansas City, MO 64108. E-mail: jlantos{at}cmh.edu