Medical Study of Youth Transition Shows only 1% returned to Gender at Birth

Perth Children's Hospital / Wiki

A groundbreaking study published by renowned Jama Pediatrics on March 4, 2024, has shown that of 552 medically and socially transitioned children and youth only 1 percent returned to their gender at birth.

Perth Children's Hospital Gender Diversity Service's relative isolation in Western Australia put it in a unique position to look at the patients up to age 18 who were treated and determine their retransition rate. Out of the 995 enrolled patients who between 2014 and 2020, 552 had voluntarily closed their cases and only 1% returned to their gender as assigned at birth. 

The study Reidentification With Birth-Registered Sex in a Western Australian Pediatric Gender Clinic Cohort shows that of 548 individuals with closed referrals, 29 (5.3%) reportedly reidentified with their birth-registered sex before or during assessment. Two of these individuals reidentified during medical treatment, which corresponds to 1.0% of all patients who initiated medical treatment.

Erin Reed (Erin In The Morning) writes "The study contributes to a substantial body of literature indicating low detransition rates. A study of 317 transgender youth in the United States reported similar findings of low detransition or desistance rates, with only 2.5% of transgender youth identifying as cisgender after five years of follow-up. A Dutch study also reported comparably low rates. According to a review of literature by Cornell University, the regret rate for gender-affirming care ranges from 0.3% to 3.8%, depending on the study's methodology. However, this study stands out due to its very large sample size, data spanning six years of transgender care, and and which does not suffer from "loss to follow-up.”

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Dallas Judge Removes TX AG Ken Paxton from Case Involving Trans Youth Healthcare

Ken Paxton

DALLAS, June 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A judge in Dallas County today removed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton from a lawsuit involving Dallas' Children's Medical Center and physicians there providing gender-affirming care for transgender youth.

Judge Melissa Bellan in Dallas County Court at Law No. 2 ruled that Mr. Paxton and his office do not have the authority to act in the case and that no state law was implicated.

"The attorney general has no business being in this case and tried to push his way into it to satisfy a political interest, not a legal one," says Charla Aldous, who along with law partner Brent Walker and attorney Stephen Malouf represent the plaintiff, Dr. Ximena Lopez.

Attorney General Paxton intervened in the case claiming gender-affirming care constitutes child abuse. During a two-hour hearing in front of Judge Bellan, attorneys for the AG questioned whether Dr. Lopez was following the proper standard of care, but the court rejected those arguments.

"The attorney general intervened in this lawsuit with no purpose but intimidation only," Mr. Walker told the court.

Dr. Lopez filed suit in April against Children's Medical Center in Dallas in order to continue providing gender-affirming care – including hormone treatments and puberty blockers – for transgender youth after such care was suspended last fall. She and others believe that action happened after the attorney general and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott pressured Children's and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center to stop providing such treatment at the GENECIS clinic.

During the hearing in front of Judge Bellan, Mr. Malouf pointed out that use of puberty blockers for gender dysphoria is on an approved list of treatments written by the Texas Department of Health and Human Services.

Through the lawsuit, and a temporary injunction that is now in place, Dr. Lopez and other physicians at Children's are once again allowed to provide gender-affirming care.