According to a long-term study, most children with gender confusion outgrow the feeling as adults.
Researchers in the Netherlands tracked more than 2,700 children from ages 11 to age twenty-five, asking them every three years their feelings about their gender.
The results showed that at the beginning of the research, about one in 10 children (11 percent) expressed “gender dissatisfaction” to varying degrees.
But at age 25, only one in 25 (4 percent) said they were “often” or “sometimes” unhappy with their gender.
The researchers concluded: “The results of the current study could help adolescents realize that it is normal to have some doubts about their identity and their gender identity during this age period and that this is also relatively common.”
It comes amid a massive surge in transgender children receiving medication to change their gender in the United States, as critics say doctors and parents are not challenging young people enough.
Patrick Brown, a fellow at the conservative Center for Ethics and Public Policy who was not involved in the research, told DailyMail.com: ‘This study provides even more reason to be skeptical of aggressive measures to facilitate gender transition in childhood and adulthood. adolescence.
“The fact that satisfaction rates are lower even a few years later suggests that for the vast majority of people, prudence and caution, rather than rushing toward permanent surgeries or hormone therapies, will be the best approach for patients.” teenagers struggling to find meaning. of the world and his place in it.
“As such, policies prohibiting gender transition for minors make a lot of sense.”
The study is one of the largest on the issue of gender in children, but the researchers note that it has some limitations.
For one, it looked at a mix of children from the general population and children receiving mental health care, though not specifically for anything related to their gender.
Therefore, it does not necessarily reflect the attitudes of children clinically diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
The researchers, from the University of Groningen, analyzed data from 2,770 people who took part in the Adolescent Individual Lives Monitoring Survey.
Participants were asked to respond to the statement “I wish to be of the opposite sex” at six different times over 15 years.
They were given a multiple choice: 0-Not true, 1-A little or sometimes true, and 2-Very true or often true.
The same message was given every two or three years from the beginning of the study in March 2001 until the end.
Rates of gender dysphoria have skyrocketed in all but one state over the past five years
Across all age groups, surgery rates increased more dramatically in 2021
The researchers looked for those who expressed “gender dissatisfaction” or unhappiness about being the gender aligned with their biological sex.
He studypublished in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior, found that overall 78 percent of people had the same feelings about their gender over the 15 years.
About 19 percent felt more satisfied with their gender and only about 2 percent felt less comfortable.
Participants were also asked to assess their self-esteem by rating how they felt about their physical appearance and self-esteem.
According to the findings, women were more likely to report being dissatisfied with their gender, and both increases and decreases in “dissatisfaction” were associated with lower self-reported self-esteem, more behavioral problems, and increased emotional struggles.
The authors said: “Gender dissatisfaction, while relatively common during early adolescence, generally declines with age and appears to be associated with poorer self-concept and mental health throughout development.”
Brown told DailyMail.com: ‘As anyone who has been a teenager knows, puberty and its aftermath can be a confusing time of hormonal surges, physical changes and social insecurity.
“Not surprisingly, the highest rates of body dissatisfaction peak during this time.”
Rates of gender dysphoria, a clinical diagnosis made by a health professional that differs from gender dissatisfaction, have skyrocketed in all but one US state since 2018, and the average age of diagnosis is trending to be younger.
The map above shows the proportion of children ages 13 to 17 who identified as transgender by state, with darker colors indicating a higher proportion of youth.
Rates of sex reassignment surgery have skyrocketed in recent years, with one in six trans adults in the U.S. choosing to undergo gender-affirming surgery.
An analysis of insurance claims by Komodo Health Inc found that between 2017 and 2021, approximately 121,880 children between the ages of six and 17 were diagnosed with this condition.
In 2021, 42,000 were diagnosed, a 70 percent increase from 2020.
And children under 18 now account for a fifth of new diagnoses each year.
In the United States, 1.6 million people ages 13 and older identify as transgender.
A report from health data analytics firm Definitive Healthcare shows that the rate of gender dysphoria increased in every state except South Dakota from 2018 to 2022 across all ages.
The steepest increases over those five years were seen in three Republican-led states: Virginia (274 percent), Indiana (247 percent) and Utah (193 percent).
South Dakota saw a 23 percent decline between 2018 and 2022.
Meanwhile, the report also found that the number of sex reassignment surgeries carried out each year is increasing rapidly, increasing by as much as 40 percent in some years.
Greater social acceptance and greater awareness of the disease on the part of doctors may partly explain the increase in cases.
Unlike other countries, such as the United Kingdom, in the United States there is no lower federal age limit for children to undergo “higher” or “lower” operations, leaving the decision up to the states.
In the Netherlands, debate on the issue has intensified as more Dutch experts have expressed concerns about the possible adverse effects of puberty blockers and hormone therapies for minors wishing to transition.
And in the United States, more recently, trans rights came into the spotlight after critics criticized President Joe Biden for declaring Easter “Trans Day of Visibility.”
However, the president said that he did not make this statement, but that the awareness day is celebrated every year on March 31 and this year it only coincided with Easter by chance.
Dr Jay Richards, director of the Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Life, Religion and Family, told DailyMail.com: “We have known for more than a decade that most children who experience distress with their sexed bodies They resolve those feelings after their death. through natural puberty.
‘In fact, we can infer from DSM 5 (2013) and other sources that up to 88 percent of gender dysphoric girls and up to 98 percent of gender dysphoric boys from previous generations desisted if allowed to pass by natural puberty.
‘These two facts make clear why “gender-affirming care” for minors is so outrageous. It leads, ultimately, to sterilization and in many cases to a complete loss of natural sexual function.
‘There is no good evidence that this helps minors in the long term. Furthermore, it medicalizes what could well be temporary psychological symptoms.
‘History will judge this medicalized ‘gender-affirming care’ in minors as we now judge eugenics and lobotomies.’
The research was published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior.