Critics Slam Boston Doctor Who Offers Sex Change Treatment to Kids

[Shana A]

Critics Slam Boston Doctor Who Offers Sex Change Treatment to Kids

Monday, May 19, 2008

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,356592,00.html

Dr. Norman Spack, a pediatric specialist at Children's Hospital Boston, has been criticized for offering sex change treatments for children.

Boston's Children's Hospital bills itself as the hospital for children — and now it's also the hospital for children who want a sex change, a procedure some critics are calling "barbaric."

Dr. Norman Spack, a pediatric specialist at the hospital, has launched a clinic for transgendered kids — boys who feel like girls, girls who want to be boys — and he's opening his doors to patients as young as 7.

[Hazumu]

Comments section is here:

[Natasha]

Critics Slam Boston Doctor Who Offers Sex Change Treatment to Kids

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,356592,00.html
5/19/2008

"Dr. Norman Spack, a pediatric specialist at Children's Hospital
Boston, has been criticized for offering sex change treatments for
children.
Boston's Children's Hospital bills itself as the hospital for children
— and now it's also the hospital for children who want a sex change, a
procedure some critics are calling "barbaric."

[LynnER]

Can we call the critics barbaric?  Wish things like this were around 20 years ago.....

[Shana A]

Comments section is here:

Thanks for the comments link, I've posted mine.

Z

[Lokaeign]

"Treating these children with hormones does considerable harm and it compounds their confusion," said Dr. Paul McHugh ... "Trying to delay puberty or change someone's gender is a rejection of the lawfulness of nature."

Against the lawfulness of nature?  Well if you're going to take that tack, maybe HRT for women who have undergone menopause is "against the lawfulness of nature."  Maybe contraception is "against the lawfulness of nature."  Maybe antibiotics, heart surgery and insulin shots are "against the lawfulness of nature" because they stop the natural progress of diseases.  Maybe he should just get the Hel out of medicine altogether and live in a cave--he'd be doing everyone a favour.


You know what I really love about all this?  Helping a boy or girl to delay puberty so ze can grow into hir role a little and decide what kind of medical help ze needs is "unnatural" and "barbaric," but surgically mutilating the genitals of little intersex babies so they conform to some arbitrary binary is AOK.  Makes me sick.

[Laura Eva B]

Yes we can all say how wonderful this would have been applied to us as children .... but ....

There is a lot of history of "effeminate" children becoming both hetero or more often gay adults comfortable in their gender ....

If you intervene in the development of an eight year old child, support him / her in adapting to their gender of choice, then you are "condemning" the child to a transgendered existence, lifelong medication, traumatic surgery, infertility, tenuous social acceptance .....

If cross gender treatment begins so early its like making a child who may have had other outcomes just re-inforce their opposite gender feelings .... like "prescribing sex change ?" .....

I know its cruel for those that feel like we do, but you just do not intervene until at earliest the first years of puberty....

But neither do you try to "brainwash and coerce" as the Zucker school of thought would have you do .....

Think the Boston doctor is well intentioned but wrong in making such early life impacting diagnoses.

Laura x

[LynnER]

Point blank ask the kids... They don't understand certain concepts which is actually a benefit as there less likely to lie about it. Efeminate boys grow up normal hetero men yeah... But how many little boys state repeatedly that they WANT to be girls or need to be girls, or ask why there not girls and so on and so forth....

Children know, and all you have to do is ask them when theres no fear of reprisal for giving the "wrong" answer....

[Lokaeign]

There is a lot of history of "effeminate" children becoming both hetero or more often gay adults comfortable in their gender ....

If you intervene in the development of an eight year old child, support him / her in adapting to their gender of choice, then you are "condemning" the child to a transgendered existence, lifelong medication, traumatic surgery, infertility, tenuous social acceptance .....

I think that's a very fair point, but it seems like this specialist is taking that into consideration.  The children undergo intensive counselling and therapy, and are given reversible puberty delaying-treatment until they are quite sure how they want to proceed.  I don't think it's the little boy who likes to play with Barbie who's the target here, but the little girl who might harm herself if she doesn't get appropriate care.

[Shana A]

If you intervene in the development of an eight year old child, support him / her in adapting to their gender of choice, then you are "condemning" the child to a transgendered existence, lifelong medication, traumatic surgery, infertility, tenuous social acceptance .....

Actually, they aren't using hormone blockers at pre puberty ages, just allowing the child to live in their  gender of choice. The use of hormone blocker doesn't start until puberty, to delay it, and only if the child is absolutely sure that they don't want to live as birth gender. Even then, if they were to decide that they were comfortable living in birth gender, nothing irreversible has been done.

Zythyra

[Laura Eva B]

The children undergo intensive counselling and therapy, and are given reversible puberty delaying-treatment until they are quite sure how they want to proceed. 

Thing is when you accquiesce to accepting children for treatment, delay puberty by medication, OK them living socially in the "opposite gender", its like a one-way road ?

Hell I want to see TS kids treated for their condition, but I don't want to see mistakes made.

And which is the better outcome, femme child becoming a happy gay man, or femme child becoming a happy trans-sexed woman, and are medics qualified to make this decision for a child ?

Soo confused about all of this !

Laura x

[Lokaeign]

Thing is when you accquiesce to accepting children for treatment, delay puberty by medication, OK them living socially in the "opposite gender", its like a one-way road ?

I can completely see why you're concerned, but I don't think it's a one way road.  This kind of therapy isn't about forcing the the child into anything, just allowing hir to express hirself more fully.  If anything, a child whose needs and choices are respected in this way will have more awareness of the various options and more freedom to choose between them, not less. 

[Seshatneferw]

Thing is when you accquiesce to accepting children for treatment, delay puberty by medication, OK them living socially in the "opposite gender", its like a one-way road ?

Er, the whole point of delaying puberty is to keep the kid's options open until e can be sure about eir gender. Puberty is the one-way road, and if one can be sure it's going in the right direction, so much the better. Even if it means puberty starts a few years later than for one's classmates.

And which is the better outcome, femme child becoming a happy gay man, or femme child becoming a happy trans-sexed woman, and are medics qualified to make this decision for a child ?

The one that suits the child. Gender identity is not the same as gender expression, and neither is the same as sexual orientation. Forcing a gay boy to become a straight woman (like they do in Iran, by the way) is just as disgusting as forcing a transsexual girl to grow up as a gay man (as is likely to happen with 'reparative' 'therapy'). The point here is to try to avoid both by giving the child as much room as possible and delaying the final decisions as long as possible, so that the child can make as informed a choice as possible.

  Nfr

[Laura91]

Yeah, those comments are something else. Such a great, tolerant group of people commenting in there. 

[NicholeW.]

The children undergo intensive counselling and therapy, and are given reversible puberty delaying-treatment until they are quite sure how they want to proceed. 

Thing is when you accquiesce to accepting children for treatment, delay puberty by medication, OK them living socially in the "opposite gender", its like a one-way road ?

Now, please, Laura, explain to me your reasoning. The above is a 'one-way street?' What about whatever 'reparative therapy' you were, and I was, given as children? Did you find that enjoyable? Or, like me did you find it very difficult to break through that crap until you were on the verge of going stark-raving mad? And then, in middle-age, made the transition you had rejected when you were 18? Were those 'options' also one-way streets? Or are some one-way streets just better than others?

Which street is one way? Either, both? What price does one pay for a one-way street that has no intersecting street for 40 blocks as opposed to one that has cross-streets at every block with alleys between blocks?

I know the price I paid was a large one. Your mileage may have varied.

Hell I want to see TS kids treated for their condition, but I don't want to see mistakes made.

So, wait a minute here. No 'mistakes?'  Ever, at all? Never? What sort of human process are you aware of, except for Ray Blanchard's (and presumably Bailey's as well) effort to winnow ->-bleeped-<-TSes and HSTSes that you seem to regard as a 'good thing' here are 'mistake-free?'

I imagine that 'no mistakes' is always what people want. Seldom discover in practice.

And which is the better outcome, femme child becoming a happy gay man, or femme child becoming a happy trans-sexed woman, and are medics qualified to make this decision for a child ?

Are you qualified? Are the parents? Is the Pope or a television-evangelist, the Prime Minister or the President? Am I qualified?

Since, I hope, with the possible exception of my first-listed choice, that you would agree that none of those listed above are capable. Why not delay things and allow the child to make a decision him/herself? What evidence is available, except Paul McHugh's high-blown dogma, that the delay is 'irreversible?' Paul McHugh is a shrink who hasn't practiced in years. What sort of authority, besides his current advocacy for the Knights of Columbus, Opus Dei and the CBCUSA, does he possess?

The infertility allegation never seems to be backed up with a citation of any study at all showing that 'blockers' cause infertility when someone decided to remain as their physical sex. 

Whatever decision is made and whatever process is followed I feel should be informed -- it should NOT be one that a Rupert Murdoch-driven propaganda/'news' platform uses to stir people's worst possible fears and nightmares. Nor should any of us accept that same propaganda/'news' as 'being pure as the driven snow.'

Soo confused about all of this !

That I can understand if you are willing to use The Sun as a primary source of information and medical science.


I think we all (me, her, him and you) owe it to one another and to ourselves to be at least somewhat educated about these things before we come forth with an opinion that goes to either total support or total rejection. 

[LynnER]

When I was a child. I was fully capable of free thought... Adults didn't listen, but I made sense. I've found things I wrote as a child, pre teen... and some are quite profound. Same goes for my little brother... Children are allot smarter than your giving them credit for.  They know who and what they are, even if we adults don't.  Granted I understand allot more about society and "inside" jokes, and about sexuality... But back then it didn't matter. As I child I knew... my mother and father told me of a song I sang when I was a little kid about the difference between boys and girls... and in my song, I said I wanted what girls had... I knew... they knew... but no one was willing to listen.

I say let the children who are tormented by this have a chance at a real life, with real friends... and a real chance at being well, really, normal.  Children who will grow into teens and adults capable of smiling, and laughing, and socializing...  I'd adopt a gender variant kid and let them grow to be whomever or whatever they wanted just so I could see there smiles.

As a teen, I tried quite unsuccessfully to come out...
You'd deny these teens the chance to have a normal puberty, to grow into there body's instead of having to force there bodies to fit them later in life...  This is the age when Gender variant children STOP SMILING

LoL, This is a saying I used allot as a kid, and as a teen. and this is probably one of the most profound insights into my life and my history you will ever see on this forum.


I will prove you wrong, I will live to prove you wrong, It is my one goal in life to prove you wrong, If I have to live past 100 to do it, I WILL PROVE YOU WRONG

Look at me now, And I KNOW that I have and still am Proving them all wrong right

[Dennis]

Wow the ignorance apparent in the comments section is disturbing.

For kids who do feel gender variant, giving them treatment in the form of counselling, validating their choices to live as the gender they feel they are has to be a huge help in helping them be adults with good self-esteem. Comparing this with Zucker's reparative therapy, which can't do anything but damage a child, even if that child turns out not to be gender-variant, I think this doctor is a godsend.

And no, I would never advocate surgery or anything irreversible for a child, but just from anecdotal cases of trans regrets, it seems like a lot of them come from exactly the sorts of households that the majority of those commenters have. Households where people don't distinguish between gay and trans, where they're both evil, wrong, and against god's will. I doubt any of the children at Dr. Spack's clinic come from those sorts of households. That at least should select out some of the possible regretters.

I'd love to see a study on that - if the trans regret people do have anything in common that way. It does seem like a lot of them are so repelled by the idea of homosexuality that they think being trans is the lesser of two evils.

Dennis

[tekla]

Wow the ignorance apparent in the comments section is disturbing.

It is Fox.  Where they seem to attract ignorance like iron filings to a magnet.

[Laura91]

I absolutely love your posts, LynnER and Dennis. Both of you are so right.