Parenting a Gender-Diverse Child: Hard Questions Answered
AAP Publications on Gender Affirming Care
Gender Identity 5 Years After Social Transition - A study where researchers found that most children who transition socially at a young age maintain that transition. "These results suggest that retransitions are infrequent. More commonly, transgender youth who socially transitioned at early ages continued to identify that way. Nonetheless, understanding retransitions is crucial for clinicians and families to help make retransitions as smooth as possible for youth."
Mental Health Outcomes and Receipt of Gender-affirming Care - A study where researchers observed a 60% decrease in depression and a 73% decrease in suicidality after 12 months of care in a gender clinic. "Given this population's high rates of adverse mental health outcomes, including suicidality, this data provides critical evidence that expansion of access to gender affirming care will save lives."
What to know about gender-affirming care for younger patients - An education session, “Issues of ethical importance: Health care for pediatric LGBTQ+ patients,” was recorded for the November 2021 AMA Section Meetings and answers questions for medical students on what gender affirming care involves.
Preventing suicide in LGBTQ youth
For transgender kids, gender-affirming names can be lifesaving
Understanding the short-term impact of gender-affirming care
Transgender Research and Medicine - All publications by the Endocrine Society
Endocrine News Archive - Archive of all articles on Transgender Health published in Endocrine News.
Endocrine Treatment of Transsexual Persons: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline (pdf) Published in June, 2009, this lengthy set of protocols for the treatment of transgender persons is the current standard for use by endocrinologists in the U.S. Archived in the Practitioners and the Parents Resources sections of this website.
Transgender & Gender Diverse Youth - A Facts for Families Resource on how to respond when raising a gender diverse child.
Clinical Guidelines Training for Providers, Professionals, & Trainees - A collection of the evidence and professional guidelines followed by members of the AACAP.
Answers to Your Questions About Transgender People, Gender Identity, & Gender Expression - (2014) Written for families.
Study Finds Long-Term Mental Health Benefits of Gender-Affirming Surgery for Transgender Individuals (2019) "The study found the odds of receiving mental health treatment were reduced by 8% for every year since receiving gender-affirming surgery over the 10-year follow-up period."
Standards of Care 8 - The full text of Standards of Care for the Health of Transgender and Gender Diverse People, Version 8
International Journal of Transgender Health - WPATH's professional publication, link to current issue.
USPATH Statement on Legislative & Executive Actions Regarding the Medical Care of Transgender Youth - In this position statement, profesionals who study gender affirming care state that decisions regarding that care should involve physicians, care providers, parents and patients and follow guidelines from organizations like the Endocrine Society and WPATH with support from the AAP, AMA, APA, AACAP. They take the time to answer specific points brought up by legislative bodies and discuss how that research actually informs care guidelines.
Clinical management of gender identity disorder in adolescents (PDF) The European Journal of Endocrinology published a protocol on psychological and paediatric endocrinology aspects — Treatment outcome in transsexuals is expected to be more favourable when puberty is suppressed than when treatment is started after Tanner stage 4 or 5.
To the beat of a different drummer: The gender-variant child (pdf) Published in Contemporary Pediatrics by Ellen C. Perrin, MD, Edgardo J. Menvielle, MD, Catherine Tuerk, MA, RN
Smith & Tanagho's General Urology 18th ed - Chapter 43 discusses normal development in utero and disorders of sex development. If you don't have a basic understanding of human anatomy and the variations that exist, it can be hard to have an intelligent discussion about sex, gender, and affirming care.
The Myth That Fuels the Panic Over Surgery for Trans Teenagers - Slate Medical Examiner Article on the actual process trans patients go through to get gender affirming surgery. “The conversation about trans kids right now is fundamentally broken. Because it is led, by and large, by cis people, it focuses on the potential regret children and adolescents might have after transitioning, and ignores the social, physical, emotional, and psychological costs of not transitioning,” Vox staff writer Emily St. James wrote in a recent article. “It ignores the reams of studies that underline the need to support trans kids. It ignores the lived experiences of many trans people, who despair that they were kept from transitioning as youths.”
KFF/The Washington Post Trans Survey - a 2023 survey of transgender adults that addresses about topics from life satisfaction to discrimination to when they knew they were trans. The report includes quotes from the respondents and some key take-aways that help describe the trans experience in America, including the finding that 2/3 of respondents understood they were trans before the age of 18.
Articles from The Washington Post’s about the survey:
Most trans adults say transitioning made them more satisfied with their lives, March 23, 2023.
Voices of trans people in America, March 23, 2023.
6 key takeaways from the Post-KFF survey of transgender Americans, March 23, 2023.
For trans people, medical visits can be more traumatizing than healing, March 24, 2023.
PBS Vitals asks doctors what they think about gender affirming care for youth. Great discussion of what affirming care is, what is being debated by physicians, and what is being debated by lawmakers.
PBS interviews Dr. Meredithe McNamara, assistant professor of pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine about gender affirming care.
Katie Couric interviews Dr. Joshua Safer and Dr. Marci Bowers during at dinner at the 2022 Aspen Ideas Festival.
The Univsersity of Washington studied transgender youth and found gender affirming care decreased depression and suicidality.
Dr. Jean Amoura is a gender medicine specialits at Nebraska Medicine and talks about the basics of gender affirming care.