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A top "youth gender dysphoria" doctor is delaying the publication of a multi-year study examining the impact of puberty blockers on children’s mental health, voicing concern that opponents of such treatments will "weaponize" the results for political gain.
Johanna Olson-Kennedy, a Los Angeles doctor who runs the largest youth gender clinic in the country, told the New York Times her team postponed the publication of the study, conducted between 2015 and 2017, because they feared the data would embolden critics of transgender procedures for minors.
"I do not want our work to be weaponized. It has to be exactly on point, clear and concise. And that takes time," Olson-Kennedy told the publication. She added that the findings could fuel the movement to ban transgender treatment for children across the country. Nearly half of U.S. states have passed prohibitions on puberty blockers and cross-sex treatments and surgeries for children.
The nearly $10 million study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, observed 95 children from across the country to see if their mental health improved following puberty blocking treatments. Olson-Kennedy said that the puberty blockers did not improve patients' mental health, telling the Times the results were likely because the patients were doing well when the study began.
"They’re in really good shape when they come in, and they’re in really good shape after two years," she said. Her statement, however, contradicts a prior evaluation of the patients, in which her team noted that 25 percent had severe anxiety and depression or were suicidal before treatment.
In the United Kingdom, pediatrician Dr. Hilary Cass published a comprehensive report on the effectiveness of hormonal treatments on children experiencing so-called gender dysphoria. Cass’s report found poor evidence for using puberty blockers and, instead, pointed to consequential risks of the treatment, including future problems with bone growth, fertility, and cognitive development, the Washington Examiner reported. As a result of the study, multiple European countries have halted so-called gender-affirming treatment for children, citing a lack of medical evidence to support its use.
The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear a case challenging the constitutionality of Tennessee’s ban on puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for minors this year. It marks the first time the High Court will address regulations on transgender treatments for children.
