THE POOR LONG-TERM OUTCOME FOLLOWING GENDER TRANSITION
There is limited information of the long-term risk of suicide following gender transition given that most studies have short follow up periods. One robust, long-term Swedish cohort study titled: ‘Long-Term Follow-Up of Transsexual Persons Undergoing Sex Reassignment Surgery’: a cohort Study in Sweden followed adult transsexual individuals (who had undergone legal gender reassignment and genital surgery) over a period of 30 years between 1973 to 2003. The study included 324 transsexual individuals and compared their outcomes to 3240 individuals matched for birth year and sex (the control group). The measure used to compare the risks of various outcomes between the groups is the adjusted hazard ratio.
• There were 10 (10/324) deaths by suicide in the transsexual group between 1973-2003 and 5 deaths by suicide in the control group (5/3240). The risk of death by suicide was 19 times higher in the transsexual group compared to the non-transsexual controls.
• The number of recorded suicide attempts in the transsexual group was 29 (29/324) compared with 44 suicide attempts in the control group (44/3240). This risk of suicide attempts was 4.9 times greater for transsexuals than for the controls.
• The number of psychiatric hospitalisations in the transsexual group was 64 (64/324) compared with 173 psychiatric hospitalisations in the control group (173/3240). Transsexuals had a 2.8 times higher risk of being hospitalised for mental ill health than controls.
This research suggests that transgender people have higher long-term rates of mental health problems and suicide regardless of having fully undergone legal gender reassignment and medical interventions including genital surgery.
In the context of these most negative findings over the long-tern it is surprising to find that RCH can confidently state, in relation to the outcome following Affirmative model of gender care in the short term, that:
• Harms can be reduced and mental health and wellbeing outcomes can be significantly improved.
It is good to see recommendations to stop the use of puberty blockers. Children cannot possibly know that they want to go the path of sterility and mutilation.
Let’s hope the new LNP government can put through two bills to parliament, firstly to prevent medical ( hormonal and surgical) intervention in minors, and secondly , to strike out the current punitive “ anti conversion therapy “ directed at non compliant miscreant clinicians. It will require fulsome support from LNP members to obtain majority votes( the ALP are bound by obligatory gender affirming care protocol, mandatory across all ALP jurisdictions, as party policy since 2018 Federal conference) and that may not be guaranteed. We can recall how both Senators Alex Antic ( Liberal S.A.) and Pauline Hanson ( One Nation Senate Leader) tried and failed , on a number of times,to introduce legislation to simply investigate the evidence for or against G. A.C. when Senate leader Simon Birmingham, senators Jane Hume and Andrew Bragg disappointingly failed to support those attempts. It will require a State by State challenge, Health being a sovereign State responsibility, Queensland has the opportunity to lead the charge.
PUBERTY BLOCKERS, CROSS SEX HORMONES & STERILISING SURGERY
A BIZZARE TREATMENT FOR MENTAL HEALTH CONDIITONS IN CHILDREN
It is often claimed that the suicide-risk in children with Gender Dysphoria (GD) justifies ‘transition’. I have tried, unsuccessfully, to find reference as to the prevalence of suicide in this cohort, or even reference to a single documented case. The closest I could get was ‘suicidality’.
Suicidality is not Suicide!
I reference a February 2024 study published in the BMJ titled:
• “All-Cause and Suicide Mortalities Among Adolescents and Young Adults Who Contacted Specialized Gender Identity Services in Finland, 1996–2019:”
A Register Study” explored the relationship between GD, psychiatric comorbidities, and mortality. The study assessed all-cause and suicide mortality among adolescents referred for gender identity services, accounting for their psychiatric histories.
Key finding: Clinical GD, when considered alongside psychiatric history, does not predict all-cause or suicide mortality.
These findings underscore the importance of identifying and treating the mental health conditions found in the GD cohort. If the distress experienced by individuals with GD primarily arises from associated comorbidities (as seems evident in this study). It would be nonsensical to send these children down the ‘affirmative’ path..
Dare I suggest an alternative: ‘Counter-Affirmative’ psychotherapy.
Finally, it is important to remember that the ‘Affirmative Model’ of ‘Gender Care’ is not evidence-based (Evidence-based therapy refers to interventions rigorously researched and proven effective through scientific methodologies)
Gordon Guyatt, distinguished professor of Medicine at McMaster University and a leading expert in Evidence-Based Medicine with over 1,500 peer-reviewed publications, has stated:
"When a rigorous systematic review of evidence concludes that 'we don’t know,' then claiming to know otherwise is not evidence-based".
I refer to a 2019 ‘Lancet’ paper titled “Suicide in Indigenous Youth: An unmitigated crisis”.
I quote the first sentence from that paper:
“In Australia, in the first month of 2019 alone, five Aboriginal girls aged 12–15 years, have taken their own lives and a 12-year-old boy is critically ill after an attempt.”
Indigenous children aged 5-17 in Australia die by suicide at 5 times the rate of their non-Indigenous counterparts.
The child suicide rate in W.A.’s Kimberley are among the world’s highest. Having worked extensively as a doctor in remote indigenous communities in Australia I have experienced first-hand this dreadful reality.
It is incongruous that there exists such a highly publicised extensive and expensive response to addressing ‘the risk of suicide’ in the GD cohort where there is apparently very little or quite probably no suicide, while our indigenous children continue to suicide at staggering rates with relatively little awareness or outrage.
The Child Gender Services having cornered suicide awareness and outrage market!
THE POOR LONG-TERM OUTCOME FOLLOWING GENDER TRANSITION
There is limited information of the long-term risk of suicide following gender transition given that most studies have short follow up periods. One robust, long-term Swedish cohort study titled: ‘Long-Term Follow-Up of Transsexual Persons Undergoing Sex Reassignment Surgery’: a cohort Study in Sweden followed adult transsexual individuals (who had undergone legal gender reassignment and genital surgery) over a period of 30 years between 1973 to 2003. The study included 324 transsexual individuals and compared their outcomes to 3240 individuals matched for birth year and sex (the control group). The measure used to compare the risks of various outcomes between the groups is the adjusted hazard ratio.
• There were 10 (10/324) deaths by suicide in the transsexual group between 1973-2003 and 5 deaths by suicide in the control group (5/3240). The risk of death by suicide was 19 times higher in the transsexual group compared to the non-transsexual controls.
• The number of recorded suicide attempts in the transsexual group was 29 (29/324) compared with 44 suicide attempts in the control group (44/3240). This risk of suicide attempts was 4.9 times greater for transsexuals than for the controls.
• The number of psychiatric hospitalisations in the transsexual group was 64 (64/324) compared with 173 psychiatric hospitalisations in the control group (173/3240). Transsexuals had a 2.8 times higher risk of being hospitalised for mental ill health than controls.
This research suggests that transgender people have higher long-term rates of mental health problems and suicide regardless of having fully undergone legal gender reassignment and medical interventions including genital surgery.
In the context of these most negative findings over the long-tern it is surprising to find that RCH can confidently state, in relation to the outcome following Affirmative model of gender care in the short term, that:
• Harms can be reduced and mental health and wellbeing outcomes can be significantly improved.
It is good to see recommendations to stop the use of puberty blockers. Children cannot possibly know that they want to go the path of sterility and mutilation.
Let’s hope the new LNP government can put through two bills to parliament, firstly to prevent medical ( hormonal and surgical) intervention in minors, and secondly , to strike out the current punitive “ anti conversion therapy “ directed at non compliant miscreant clinicians. It will require fulsome support from LNP members to obtain majority votes( the ALP are bound by obligatory gender affirming care protocol, mandatory across all ALP jurisdictions, as party policy since 2018 Federal conference) and that may not be guaranteed. We can recall how both Senators Alex Antic ( Liberal S.A.) and Pauline Hanson ( One Nation Senate Leader) tried and failed , on a number of times,to introduce legislation to simply investigate the evidence for or against G. A.C. when Senate leader Simon Birmingham, senators Jane Hume and Andrew Bragg disappointingly failed to support those attempts. It will require a State by State challenge, Health being a sovereign State responsibility, Queensland has the opportunity to lead the charge.
PUBERTY BLOCKERS, CROSS SEX HORMONES & STERILISING SURGERY
A BIZZARE TREATMENT FOR MENTAL HEALTH CONDIITONS IN CHILDREN
It is often claimed that the suicide-risk in children with Gender Dysphoria (GD) justifies ‘transition’. I have tried, unsuccessfully, to find reference as to the prevalence of suicide in this cohort, or even reference to a single documented case. The closest I could get was ‘suicidality’.
Suicidality is not Suicide!
I reference a February 2024 study published in the BMJ titled:
• “All-Cause and Suicide Mortalities Among Adolescents and Young Adults Who Contacted Specialized Gender Identity Services in Finland, 1996–2019:”
A Register Study” explored the relationship between GD, psychiatric comorbidities, and mortality. The study assessed all-cause and suicide mortality among adolescents referred for gender identity services, accounting for their psychiatric histories.
Key finding: Clinical GD, when considered alongside psychiatric history, does not predict all-cause or suicide mortality.
These findings underscore the importance of identifying and treating the mental health conditions found in the GD cohort. If the distress experienced by individuals with GD primarily arises from associated comorbidities (as seems evident in this study). It would be nonsensical to send these children down the ‘affirmative’ path..
Dare I suggest an alternative: ‘Counter-Affirmative’ psychotherapy.
Finally, it is important to remember that the ‘Affirmative Model’ of ‘Gender Care’ is not evidence-based (Evidence-based therapy refers to interventions rigorously researched and proven effective through scientific methodologies)
Gordon Guyatt, distinguished professor of Medicine at McMaster University and a leading expert in Evidence-Based Medicine with over 1,500 peer-reviewed publications, has stated:
"When a rigorous systematic review of evidence concludes that 'we don’t know,' then claiming to know otherwise is not evidence-based".
AUSTRALIA’S CHILD SUICIDE CRISIS
I refer to a 2019 ‘Lancet’ paper titled “Suicide in Indigenous Youth: An unmitigated crisis”.
I quote the first sentence from that paper:
“In Australia, in the first month of 2019 alone, five Aboriginal girls aged 12–15 years, have taken their own lives and a 12-year-old boy is critically ill after an attempt.”
Indigenous children aged 5-17 in Australia die by suicide at 5 times the rate of their non-Indigenous counterparts.
The child suicide rate in W.A.’s Kimberley are among the world’s highest. Having worked extensively as a doctor in remote indigenous communities in Australia I have experienced first-hand this dreadful reality.
It is incongruous that there exists such a highly publicised extensive and expensive response to addressing ‘the risk of suicide’ in the GD cohort where there is apparently very little or quite probably no suicide, while our indigenous children continue to suicide at staggering rates with relatively little awareness or outrage.
The Child Gender Services having cornered suicide awareness and outrage market!
In the Adelaide Daily Mail on Jan 5 2025, there was an article on Puberty Blockers by journalist Sophie Elsworth.
It makes frequent references to the Cass Report and highlights some of the problems with blockers.
This is good news that this article was published in a mainstream newspaper.
The claim that blockers give a child time to think makes no sense to me, given that their use greatly reduces the odds the likelihood of
of a child changing their mind.
A lucrative industry has been manufactured from the use of puberty blockers.
Their use greatly increases the number of children later being subjected to medical transition, compared to children not being put on blockers.
Stunting children's growth means less flesh is available to create fake vaginas, to the point that flesh from the colon has been used.
Complications from this approach has led to death.
The real reasons for puberty blockers IMO are,
the huge money in them and the greater incidence of medical transition they encourage.
They may be seen as temporary relief for children frightened of puberty, though this is not a real benefit.