Two months ago, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued an official document “Gender Affirming Care and Young People.” In a recent blog the Society For Evidence Based Gender Medicine fact-checked this important document and found an alarming number of errors and misrepresentations.
SEGM is an international group of over 100 clinicians and researchers concerned about the lack of quality evidence for the use of hormonal and surgical interventions as first-line treatment for young people with gender dysphoria. They represent expertise from a range of clinical disciplines.
Here are the bullet points of their fact-check:
Inaccurate Claims
- Misstatements of the effects of social transition
- Unsupported claim of the reversibility of puberty blockers
- Inaccurate statement regarding the age eligibility for surgeries
- Overreaching claims of “proven benefits” of gender transition on adolescent mental health
- Omission of any discussion of risks
- Conflation of distinctly different concepts
Insufficient Process
- Inadequate literature review
- Biased recommendations that do not acknowledge the low quality of evidence
- Failure to consult a range of stakeholders with diverse views
- Lack of identification or acknowledgement of alternatives
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