(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) The American Academy of Pediatrics announced a review of gender-affirming care practices, along with other treatments usually given to gender dysphoric children, in order to assess the effectiveness of the treatments.
Treatments set to undergo review included puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, double mastectomies and genital surgeries, the Daily Wire reported.
The AAP approved the analysis as a step to develop an “expanded set of guidance for pediatricians based on a systematic review of the evidence.”
They also reiterated their confidence in the set processes, claiming they have children’s best interests in mind when administering such treatments.
“The decision to authorize a systematic review reflects the board’s concerns about restrictions to access to health care with bans on gender-affirming care in more than 20 states,” the AAP said. “The AAP opposes any laws or regulations that discriminate against transgender and gender-diverse individuals, or that interfere in the doctor-patient relationship.”
The current guidelines for transgender medical interventions include everything from social transitioning to extreme surgical interventions, such as “facial feminization.”
The group also claimed that puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones are either totally or partially irreversible, despite mounting evidence that both effect bone growth and density, voice damage, infertility, blood clotting and increased risks of cancer.
People opposed to transgender medical practices lauded the decision and expressed hope that the evidence against such care would end the practices.
“As it stands, there is no long-term quality evidence that substantiates the widespread use of puberty blockers. We do not know how this will affect children in the long term,” wrote psychotherapist Stella O’Malley. “Thankfully, last week’s decision by the AAP to acknowledge this galactic gap in the evidence will highlight how there is no evidence to support the recent surge towards ‘gender-affirmative care.’”
The AAP is the largest professional association for pediatricians in the country, with 67,000 members.
