Early transgender identity tends to endure: Study

According to a study published on Wednesday, children who begin identifying as transgender at a young age are likely to keep that identity for at least several years.

The study included 317 children aged 3 to 12 years old at the time of recruitment. At the conclusion of the study, 94% were living as transgender. Nearly two-thirds were using puberty-blocking medicine or sex hormones to medically transition.

The majority of the children in the study came from white, well-off households that helped them through their transitions. On average, the kids began identifying as transgender at around age 6.

It’s unclear if similar findings would be observed among children from less privileged families or those who identify as transgender as teenagers. The study was published online in Pediatrics.

“Incredibly timely and sorely needed”

Politicians trying to restrict or penalize medical care for transgender children have provided evidence that many children “retransition” or change their minds.

Some doctors argue that transgender medication or surgery should not be administered to children until they reach adulthood. But there is no rigorous evidence on the figures. Not all of the children had begun treatment and none had transgender surgery.

Coleen Williams is a psychologist from Boston Children’s Hospital’s Gender Multispecialty Service, a clinic that serves transgender children. Williams called the study “incredibly timely… and sorely needed.”

“If you’re in the trenches doing this work day-in and day-out with trans kiddos and their families, this is what we see,” said Williams. He was not a part of the study. “A majority of transgender youth and kids who make a social transition remain living in their affirmed gender.”

Families from roughly 40 states were recruited for the study using social media groups for trans kids, camps, conferences, and also word of mouth.

Transgender identity and early social gender transition

A few children transitioned back momentarily throughout the study, according to Kristina Olson. She is a Princeton University psychologist who conducted the study. But in the end, the majority had returned to a transgender identity.

“It suggests that our model of thinking about people as they’re either X or Y, they’re either cisgender or transgender … is kind of an antiquated way of thinking about gender,” Olson said.

She pointed out that “nonbinary” wasn’t a prevalent phrase when the study began in 2013. The children then surveyed used male or female pronouns. As the researchers track them through their adolescent years, this could change. When the trial finished, the kids were on average about the age of 12.

Other data demonstrate that many children lose transgender identities by puberty or adulthood, according to the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine. It is a nonprofit group of health experts who have concerns about medical transition risks for minors. Some academics also claim that the data has faults.

The latest study appears to confirm concerns “that early social gender transition may cement a young person’s transgender identity, and lead minors on the path to eventual medicalization, with all its inherent risks and uncertainties,” according to Dr. William Malone, a group advisor.