Most Gender Dysphoria Established by Age 7, Study Finds

The study findings revealed that 73% of the transgender women and 78% of the transgender men first experienced gender dysphoria by age 7. “While ... Skiptomaincontent LosAngeles, 16 June 2020 | 07:00AM America/Los_Angeles MostGenderDysphoriaEstablishedbyAge7,StudyFinds AsPrideMonthGetsUnderway,Cedars-SinaiResearchRevealsHealthImpactonTransgenderPeoplefromLackofEarlySupportandIntervention ResearchbyurologistMauriceGarcia,MD,directoroftheCedars-SinaiTransgenderSurgeryandHealthProgram,showsthatthemajorityoftransgenderpatientsexperiencegenderdysphoriainearlychildhood.PhotobyCedars-Sinai. Genderdysphoriamanifestsearlyinchildhoodandcanpersistforyearsbeforepatientsundergocounselingandtreatment,aCedars-Sinaistudyhasfound.Thefindingsalsorevealthatuntreatedgenderdysphoriacanresultinpoorqualityoflifefortransgenderpeople,beginninginchildhoodandlastingthroughoutadolescenceandadulthood.Genderdysphoria referstothestrongdiscomfortordistressoftencausedbyadiscrepancybetweenaperson's gender identityandtheirbiologicalsexassignedatbirth,accordingtotheDiagnosticandStatisticalManualofMentalDisorders–FifthEdition.Genderdysphoriaworsensasthoseexperiencingitgrapplewithexpectedsocialgenderrolesandsexcharacteristicsthatdonotalignwith,orreflect,theirinternalsenseofgenderidentity.Federalandstatepopulationstudiesfrom2016estimatethat1.4millionto1.65millionU.S.adults–or0.6%-0.7%oftheU.S.population–identifyastransgender,accordingtotheWilliamsInstituteatUCLASchoolofLaw.TheCedars-Sinaistudy,publishedrecentlyinJAMANetworkOpen,ajournaloftheAmericanMedicalAssociation,wasledbyurologistMauriceGarcia,MD,directoroftheCedars-SinaiTransgenderSurgeryandHealthProgram.Thestudyincluded155transgenderwomen–thosewhoidentifyaswomenbutwhosesexassignedatbirthwasmale–and55transgendermen–thosewhoidentifyasmenbutwhosesexassignedatbirthwasfemale.Alloftheparticipantswereadultpatientsseekinggender-affirmingsurgery.Thestudyfindingsrevealedthat73%ofthetransgenderwomenand78%ofthetransgendermenfirstexperiencedgenderdysphoriabyage7.“Whilepoliciesregardingtransgenderpeople’srightsareevolving,whatisstillclearandunchangedistheunequivocalneedforaccessiblehealthcarefortransgenderandgendernonconformingpeopleofallages,”Garciasaid.OnMonday,theU.S.SupremeCourtruledthattheCivilRightsActof1964prohibitsworkplacediscriminationagainstgayandtransgenderworkers,whichcouldhelptransgenderpatientswhorelyonemployer-sponsoredhealthinsurance. Thatdecision followedarulefinalizedbytheTrumpAdministrationlastweekthatoverturnsprotectionsfortransgenderpeopleagainstsexdiscriminationinhealthcare.Thoseprotections,establishedinthe2010AffordableCareAct,generally allowedpeopletochoosehowtheyidentifyratherthanbedeterminedbythesexassignedatbirth. “ Allofthestudyparticipantscametomyclinicaskingforsurgeryandeveryoneofthemsaidtheyexperiencedgenderdysphoriaaroundthesameearlyage.Whattheyexperiencedearlierinlifewasnota‘passingphase,’whichisoftensuggestedabouttransgenderpeopleseekingsurgery.Theyknewexactlywhentheirgenderdysphoriastarted.It’slikeaskingaboutyourmom’sbirthdate–youjustknowit. MauriceGarcia,MD„ Thestudyauthorsalsosoughttocomparetheageofearliestgeneral–non-gender-related–memorieswiththeageofparticipants’firstgenderdysphoriaexperiences.Thestudyresultsshowedthatthemeanageofthetransgenderwomen’searliestgeneralmemoryandfirstexperienceofgenderdysphoriawere4.5and6.7years,respectively.Fortransgendermentheywere4.7and6.2years,respectively.Transgenderwomenlivedanaverage27.1yearsandtransgendermen22.9yearsbeforetheybegansocialtransitionand/orhormonaltherapytreatments.Inotherwords,theirlifeexperiences,beginningwiththeirearliestmemories,includedthedistressandnegativehealtheffectsbroughtonbyalackofearlycounselingandsupportservicesthatwouldhaveeasedtheirgendertransitionperiod,Garciasaid.“Allofthestudyparticipantscametomyclinicaskingforsurgeryandeveryoneofthemsaidtheyexperiencedgenderdysphoriaaroundthesameearlyage,”Garciasaid.“Whattheyexperiencedearlierinlifewasnota‘passingphase,’whichisoftensuggestedabouttransgenderpeopleseekingsurgery.Theyknewexactlywhentheirgenderdysphoriastarted.It’slikeaskingaboutyourmom’sbirthdate–youjustknowit.”Garciasaidheundertookthestudybecausehewasstruckbytheuniversalityofearlyageonsetofgenderdysphoriahispatientsreport,andthehighratesofdepression,anxiety,self-harmandfeelingsofhopelessnesshispatientssaytheyexperienced.HesaidthathehopesthattheresultsfromtheCedars-Sinaistudywilldrawattentiontotheplightofthetransgenderpopulationandopenthedoorstogreatersocietalacceptanceofandearlierinterventionforthem.Hesaidthatthemajorityoftransgenderpeoplewhoreceivetransition-relatedcounselingandcare“thrive.”Garciaalsonotedtheurgentneedforsupportforfamilieswhosechildrenareundergoingthetransgendertransitionprocess.“Familyisthesecondpatientintheroom,”Garciasaid.“Liketheirkids,parentsoftenfeelthatthey’retheonlyonesgoingthroughthisexperience.It’sourjobtoprovideguidanceandreassuranceforthem,too.Childrenandfamiliesshouldbeawareofhowcareprovidersandparentscanhelp,andthemanyoptionsavailableforchildrenearlyonandwhentheyenteradulthood.Theycanreceivethehelptheyneedtosuccessfullynavigatethefuturemoreconfidentlyandsmoothly.”Read moreontheCedars-SinaiBlog:NewTransgenderSurgeryandHealthProgramatCedars-Sinai ContacttheMediaTeam Email: [email protected] Sharethisrelease MostGenderDysphoriaEstablishedbyAge7,StudyFinds Shareon:Twitter Shareon:Facebook Shareon:LinkedIn SearchOurNewsroom SearchOurNewsroom NewsroomHome Socialmedia VisitourFacebookpage(opensinnewwindow) FollowusonTwitter(opensinnewwindow) VisitourYoutubeprofile(opensinnewwindow) (opensinnewwindow) Latestnews 06 Nov 2021 - AmericanHeartAssociationNews:BrokenHeartSyndromeIsontheRise,EspeciallyAmongOlderWomen 05 Nov 2021 - HealthDayNews:AnotherStudySuggestsTooMuchFishOilCouldTriggerA-Fib 04 Nov 2021 - COVID-19VaccineAvailableforChildren5andOlder 04 Nov 2021 - ProminentMinimallyInvasiveSurgeonJoinsSpineTeam 03 Nov 2021 - SeasonalDepressionCanLoomAsTimeChangeGoesIntoEffect 03 Nov 2021 - ManejandolaAnsiedadSocialPospandémica DOCTORS LOCATIONS MYCS-LINK