Sounds all too familiar. Experienced similar providers that quite summarily diagnosed our daughter as trans in the Texas health care system, seemingly dismissive of the fact she was quite feminine in her earlier years
Unfortunately, gender affirming care is the only type if “care”
In Australia anyway.
There appears to be a strong conflict of interest with care of these vulnerable young people. My “daughter” was referred to a youth service & given a case worker that had transitioned FTM, who they thought it appropriate & helpful to tell her all about their experiences, how great top surgery was & hormone treatment etc…..,
Hardly unbiased care.
I didnt know all this till months later & of course when I told my “daughter” it was unprofessional, unethical & a conflict of interest to share their personal life with a client & a minor, I was told it wasnt & having someone eho truely understood & give advice was just amazing. Nothing was shared with me again, because I am the enemy.
I am sad & angry by what you describe at the gender clinic & even sadder that I am not suprised. It is an absolute scandal.
High quality writing here. I especially love your final paragraph, and the epilogue might be that these deviant adults are mandated to psychiatric treatment in lieu of jailtime, while they are forced to surrender their licenses to protect the public. Indeed, this is the position we are taking at our organization.
You know it's not real medical care, because the patient, a child, diagnoses him/her self, tells the "doctor" the diagnosis and then the doctor is obligated to treat, without questioning the child's self diagnosis. It's ridiculous. Embarrassing. Absurd. No one is allowed to question this diagnosis, especially the parents.
You know it's not real medical care, because the patient, a child, diagnoses him/her self, tells the "doctor" the diagnosis and then the doctor is obligated to treat, without questioning the child's self diagnosis. It's ridiculous. Embarrassing. Absurd. No one is allowed to question this diagnosis, especially the parents.
You know it's not real medical care, because the patient, a child, diagnoses him/her self, tells the "doctor" the diagnosis and then the doctor is obligated to treat, without questioning the child's self diagnosis. It's ridiculous. Embarrassing. Absurd. No one is allowed to question this diagnosis, especially the parents.
You know it's not real medical care, because the patient, a child, diagnoses him/her self, tells the "doctor" the diagnosis and then the doctor is obligated to treat, without questioning the child's self diagnosis. It's ridiculous. Embarrassing. Absurd. No one is allowed to question this diagnosis, especially the parents.
This is so close to our experience at the Brisbane gender clinic that aside from a few minor details I could have written it myself. The staff we dealt with were 100% affirming, and I knew we couldn't discuss our concerns without being thought of as bad parents. I, too, am a "leftie" - more so than any of my friends and family. First I thought I must be overlooking something, but having a research background I actually read the papers the gender clinic supplied as "evidence" - they were not in any way sound evidence backed papers.
Thankfully, although my daughter's trans id started with the covid lockdowns, it also meant that our dealings with the gender clinic were all online and after two years she said she didn't want to see them anymore. She's never discussed it and now wears dresses again and make-up.
Sadly, the nurse navigator who we mostly dealt with (Kate G) now works for an online trans-medicalising company who I'm sure is now doing a lot of damage in the mistaken belief that she's doing the right thing. The now conservative Qld government has slowed down the trans pipeline in public hospitals, so they're all going private with not many ways of keeping a rein on what they're doing to our kids.
Yep….mum of 7 and living the PITT in Australia. We were the bad guys to the psych that just questioned our refusal to use correct pronouns … no questions about trauma or anything!!
It's not just the clinicians--it's the trooned out adults pushing the "affirmative" model who are vampirically sapping our children's youth and health to address their own unmet and unexamined needs. But then, what else would we expect from a child mutilation cult?
So resonant. No surprise, but our family's experience was parallel to yours here in the US. I am consistently amazed at how supportive the general public is to this issue, but in further reflection (now there is an understatement) I don't believe that folks are aware of just how little curiosity and exploration there is of this new cohort. I don't think there is a real understanding of both the "affirmation only" model as well as that of "informed consent" which here in the US, anyway, allows kids as young as 16 in many states to simply walk into a clinic and ask for hormones. Without even a simple background check, and signing away any liability in the process. If there were a greater understanding of this larger scope issue, including that the suicide statistics have been skewed, there might be a lot more genuine concern and more moves to provide care that takes each individual's current condition as well as history into consideration.
They were some efforts underway thru the US FTC to bring the issues you raise to the surface - my wife even assisted with documentation of our unfortunate experience. Hopefully, something positive comes of it.
This is an excellent essay full of insightful observations from the author's firsthand experience. First, that the initial consultation at a gender clinic is nothing like the first appointment someone with any other psychological symptoms would have. Since the trans diagnosis is confirmed before the doctor has even met the patient, there is no need for further evaluation or analysis of the symptoms or the patient's past. How convenient for these doctors who stand to profit from practicing "gender affirming care."
Second, as the author analyzes the trans phenomenon in the context of teenage rebellion and generational conflict, it's obvious that being trans is a passing fad like any other, yet this one has devastating consequences when medical intervention occurs. Gender clinics pander to the patients, and affirm their delusions, much to the horror of the parents just trying to get help for their child, and the delight of the teenagers who seek validation. The observation that the psychiatrist at the clinic could not, "understand or appreciate the dynamics of having adults validate a teenager’s opposition to their parents" was spot on.
From your statement, it seems you believe your daughter wasn't truly trans.
You say your daughter gave false answers—something she likely learned online—when the psychiatrist asked if she had played boys' or girls' games during her childhood.
On the other hand, you say that in the clinic, the transgender status of every child who comes for treatment is "already predetermined," and that this underlying attitude is revealed in the name of the therapeutic approach: Gender Affirming Care.
You complain that these clinics don't investigate whether the child's feelings are influenced by childhood sexual abuse, childhood trauma, or other mental health issues.
And finally, you say you understand that being in a body of the opposite sex to the one you feel is very distressing, distressing enough to lead people to have suicidal thoughts.
There's a common thread running through all these statements: the supposed existence of people who are essentially trans.
But what are trans people? Are they the people who claim to be trans? Are they the people who say they are in the wrong body (“a body of the opposite sex to the one they feel they are”)?
The mistake is assuming that being a trans person is an essence, something universal belonging to the human condition. It isn't.
What exists and has existed as universal are the people we now call “gender non-conforming,” who are usually homosexual or bisexual.
Being trans is the result of what is done to these “non-conforming” people, or those who have suffered trauma, or whatever the reason may be that leads them to experience “gender dysphoria.”
Transition is not universal; it is a modern invention, very recent in the life of our species. And a nefarious invention.
A trans person is someone who transitions, not someone who is born trans.
And you can't detect “who is trans” through their childhood games, or if they suffered abuse, or if they are a “peculiar” person. Because no one “is” trans.
These "Gender Affirmation Care" clinics do more than just affirm gender; which in itself isn't wrong. Affirming a person's gender isn't a problem in itself (although many people who claim to have a problem with their gender actually have other issues).
The problem is transition, in all its forms. That's the real problem we need to solve.
Sounds all too familiar. Experienced similar providers that quite summarily diagnosed our daughter as trans in the Texas health care system, seemingly dismissive of the fact she was quite feminine in her earlier years
Unfortunately, gender affirming care is the only type if “care”
In Australia anyway.
There appears to be a strong conflict of interest with care of these vulnerable young people. My “daughter” was referred to a youth service & given a case worker that had transitioned FTM, who they thought it appropriate & helpful to tell her all about their experiences, how great top surgery was & hormone treatment etc…..,
Hardly unbiased care.
I didnt know all this till months later & of course when I told my “daughter” it was unprofessional, unethical & a conflict of interest to share their personal life with a client & a minor, I was told it wasnt & having someone eho truely understood & give advice was just amazing. Nothing was shared with me again, because I am the enemy.
I am sad & angry by what you describe at the gender clinic & even sadder that I am not suprised. It is an absolute scandal.
High quality writing here. I especially love your final paragraph, and the epilogue might be that these deviant adults are mandated to psychiatric treatment in lieu of jailtime, while they are forced to surrender their licenses to protect the public. Indeed, this is the position we are taking at our organization.
Gosh. What happened next? How is your child doing now?
You know it's not real medical care, because the patient, a child, diagnoses him/her self, tells the "doctor" the diagnosis and then the doctor is obligated to treat, without questioning the child's self diagnosis. It's ridiculous. Embarrassing. Absurd. No one is allowed to question this diagnosis, especially the parents.
You know it's not real medical care, because the patient, a child, diagnoses him/her self, tells the "doctor" the diagnosis and then the doctor is obligated to treat, without questioning the child's self diagnosis. It's ridiculous. Embarrassing. Absurd. No one is allowed to question this diagnosis, especially the parents.
You know it's not real medical care, because the patient, a child, diagnoses him/her self, tells the "doctor" the diagnosis and then the doctor is obligated to treat, without questioning the child's self diagnosis. It's ridiculous. Embarrassing. Absurd. No one is allowed to question this diagnosis, especially the parents.
You know it's not real medical care, because the patient, a child, diagnoses him/her self, tells the "doctor" the diagnosis and then the doctor is obligated to treat, without questioning the child's self diagnosis. It's ridiculous. Embarrassing. Absurd. No one is allowed to question this diagnosis, especially the parents.
Kids are out of things to rebel against. They have everything. The only thing left is to rebel against themselves. Make childhood hard again.
This is so close to our experience at the Brisbane gender clinic that aside from a few minor details I could have written it myself. The staff we dealt with were 100% affirming, and I knew we couldn't discuss our concerns without being thought of as bad parents. I, too, am a "leftie" - more so than any of my friends and family. First I thought I must be overlooking something, but having a research background I actually read the papers the gender clinic supplied as "evidence" - they were not in any way sound evidence backed papers.
Thankfully, although my daughter's trans id started with the covid lockdowns, it also meant that our dealings with the gender clinic were all online and after two years she said she didn't want to see them anymore. She's never discussed it and now wears dresses again and make-up.
Sadly, the nurse navigator who we mostly dealt with (Kate G) now works for an online trans-medicalising company who I'm sure is now doing a lot of damage in the mistaken belief that she's doing the right thing. The now conservative Qld government has slowed down the trans pipeline in public hospitals, so they're all going private with not many ways of keeping a rein on what they're doing to our kids.
Yep….mum of 7 and living the PITT in Australia. We were the bad guys to the psych that just questioned our refusal to use correct pronouns … no questions about trauma or anything!!
It's not just the clinicians--it's the trooned out adults pushing the "affirmative" model who are vampirically sapping our children's youth and health to address their own unmet and unexamined needs. But then, what else would we expect from a child mutilation cult?
So resonant. No surprise, but our family's experience was parallel to yours here in the US. I am consistently amazed at how supportive the general public is to this issue, but in further reflection (now there is an understatement) I don't believe that folks are aware of just how little curiosity and exploration there is of this new cohort. I don't think there is a real understanding of both the "affirmation only" model as well as that of "informed consent" which here in the US, anyway, allows kids as young as 16 in many states to simply walk into a clinic and ask for hormones. Without even a simple background check, and signing away any liability in the process. If there were a greater understanding of this larger scope issue, including that the suicide statistics have been skewed, there might be a lot more genuine concern and more moves to provide care that takes each individual's current condition as well as history into consideration.
They were some efforts underway thru the US FTC to bring the issues you raise to the surface - my wife even assisted with documentation of our unfortunate experience. Hopefully, something positive comes of it.
I am so sorry you and your child are amongst the throngs, but really glad to read that your wife has been active. I would be very happy to know more.
This is an excellent essay full of insightful observations from the author's firsthand experience. First, that the initial consultation at a gender clinic is nothing like the first appointment someone with any other psychological symptoms would have. Since the trans diagnosis is confirmed before the doctor has even met the patient, there is no need for further evaluation or analysis of the symptoms or the patient's past. How convenient for these doctors who stand to profit from practicing "gender affirming care."
Second, as the author analyzes the trans phenomenon in the context of teenage rebellion and generational conflict, it's obvious that being trans is a passing fad like any other, yet this one has devastating consequences when medical intervention occurs. Gender clinics pander to the patients, and affirm their delusions, much to the horror of the parents just trying to get help for their child, and the delight of the teenagers who seek validation. The observation that the psychiatrist at the clinic could not, "understand or appreciate the dynamics of having adults validate a teenager’s opposition to their parents" was spot on.
Amazing in depth and eloquent analysis
I hope your daughter is well and I hope she found her way
From your statement, it seems you believe your daughter wasn't truly trans.
You say your daughter gave false answers—something she likely learned online—when the psychiatrist asked if she had played boys' or girls' games during her childhood.
On the other hand, you say that in the clinic, the transgender status of every child who comes for treatment is "already predetermined," and that this underlying attitude is revealed in the name of the therapeutic approach: Gender Affirming Care.
You complain that these clinics don't investigate whether the child's feelings are influenced by childhood sexual abuse, childhood trauma, or other mental health issues.
And finally, you say you understand that being in a body of the opposite sex to the one you feel is very distressing, distressing enough to lead people to have suicidal thoughts.
There's a common thread running through all these statements: the supposed existence of people who are essentially trans.
But what are trans people? Are they the people who claim to be trans? Are they the people who say they are in the wrong body (“a body of the opposite sex to the one they feel they are”)?
The mistake is assuming that being a trans person is an essence, something universal belonging to the human condition. It isn't.
What exists and has existed as universal are the people we now call “gender non-conforming,” who are usually homosexual or bisexual.
Being trans is the result of what is done to these “non-conforming” people, or those who have suffered trauma, or whatever the reason may be that leads them to experience “gender dysphoria.”
Transition is not universal; it is a modern invention, very recent in the life of our species. And a nefarious invention.
A trans person is someone who transitions, not someone who is born trans.
And you can't detect “who is trans” through their childhood games, or if they suffered abuse, or if they are a “peculiar” person. Because no one “is” trans.
These "Gender Affirmation Care" clinics do more than just affirm gender; which in itself isn't wrong. Affirming a person's gender isn't a problem in itself (although many people who claim to have a problem with their gender actually have other issues).
The problem is transition, in all its forms. That's the real problem we need to solve.