Caring for Transgender Youth

Norman P Spack,Stephanie A Roberts

doi:10.4172/2157-7595.1000213

Abstract

Copyright: © 2015 Spack NP, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Gender nonconforming youth refers to children whose behaviors, appearances, or identities are discordant with those culturally assigned to their birth sex. Children who are transgender often affirm an internal gender identity opposite from their assigned gender, however there can be fluidity in the spectrum of maleness and femaleness. Gender dysphoria refers to the distress from the discordance between one’s affirmed, or desired, gender and the gender assigned at birth. Some transgender youth seek care to undergo medical treatment in order to change their physical sex characteristics to permanently change their gender role during a period referred to as their transition [1,2].

Highlights

Gender nonconforming youth refers to children whose behaviors, appearances, or identities are discordant with those culturally assigned to their birth sex
Gender dysphoria refers to the distress from the discordance between one’s affirmed, or desired, gender and the gender assigned at birth
Gender dysphoria in children that intensifies with onset of puberty rarely subsides, which has prompted the delay in initiation of medical treatment until the early stages of puberty

Summary

Introduction

Gender nonconforming youth refers to children whose behaviors, appearances, or identities are discordant with those culturally assigned to their birth sex. Some transgender youth seek care to undergo medical treatment in order to change their physical sex characteristics to permanently change their gender role during a period referred to as their transition [1,2]. A challenge for medical providers is relieving dysphoria while practicing primum non nocere, do no harm, as most pre-pubertal “transgender” children will eventually revert back to their previously assigned gender and not continue their transition [4,5].

Results

Conclusion