Few studies are available on the effects on children of social or medical transitions. That’s because these procedures are still relatively new. The issue has also become so polarized and politicized, when studies are released, it’s difficult to find any that demonstrate a lack of bias.
But a new report was recently published with the American Academy of Pediatrics. Its findings suggest that young children who socially transition to a new gender, by changing their name, pronouns, and clothes, tend to continue to identify with that “new” gender five years later. The New York Times gleefully inferred that this means the right thing for parents to do when their child is questioning their identity is to begin socially transitioning them.
There are a few issues with the study. First, it is part of the TransYouth Project, an effort via Princeton University’s Human Diversity Lab. So, the study itself already affirms transgender youth and the idea that gender is fluid. It does not question it. Kristina Olson, a professor of psychology at Princeton University, is the director of the Human Diversity Lab and a co-author of the study. Her work is largely focused on gender and sexuality in children. While her professional accolades are many, her work seems to be biased toward the idea that children as young as 6 1/2 can know they are the opposite gender and that it is healthy for them to transition to it.
The study suggested the children who did socially transition did so at 6.5 years old, again, at the obvious suggestion of their parents, and over 90% remained that way for at least five years, until 11.5. Five years isn’t a long time. Many who regret transitioning do so during or after puberty, or even in early adulthood. It’s too soon to tell.
Finally, the New York Times notes, “All of the parents were supportive enough to facilitate full social transitions.” This is a vital point. Of course, some of these children may have gender dysphoria — the feeling that their body doesn’t match their mind or a strong desire to be another gender. That may be why their parents joined the study. Still, social transition is a new, and likely harmful, concept.
Many studies suggest the cure for dysphoria is a “watch and wait” approach. A 2016 study found just that. In a 2021 study of boys with gender dysphoria going back to 7.5 years of age in 1989, a follow-up 20 years later found that only 17 of the 139 continued to have gender dysphoric thoughts. One psychologist explained how social transition hurts children: “It’s a short-term strategy with long term consequences. It works so easily for young children — pre-puberty it truly is impossible to tell for many whether they are male or female. The young child who is transitioned is treated by everyone as the opposite sex, and because they are small, they believe that this is how things are … But in the long term, it creates a problem which is not reversible.”
The TransYouth Project should devote more time to questioning what’s healthy for children, without bias, rather than reinforcing the current trend that every child who questions their identity must immediately change.
Nicole Russell is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is a journalist in Washington, D.C., who previously worked in Republican politics in Minnesota.
