- Exchanges between doctors contradict public assurances that so-called “gender-affirming” care is “medically necessary” or that consent is informed
- Child psychologist, co-author of latest World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) ‘Standards of Care’, admits “[It is] out of their developmental range to understand the extent to which some of these medical interventions are impacting them”
The following quote may be attributed to Robert Clarke, Director of Advocacy for ADF International, regarding the documents released on March 4th 2024, concerning the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH). The documents reveal “widespread medical malpractice on children and vulnerable adults”:
“No child is ever born in the wrong body. Children depend on adults to guide and empower them to feel comfortable and confident in their own skin – not to push them down a dangerous and irreversible path of transition.
Around the globe, patients and doctors have been assured they are following ‘best practice’ through the ‘Standards of Care’ published by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH). The documents released today expose an organisation lacking consideration for long-term patient outcomes despite being aware of the debilitating and life-changing effects of cross-sex hormones and other ‘treatments’.
Messages in the files show that patients with severe mental health issues, such as schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder, and other vulnerabilities such as homelessness, are being allowed to consent to hormonal and surgical procedures. Members dismiss concerns and characterize efforts to protect patients as unnecessary ‘gatekeeping.’ The files also provide clear evidence that doctors and therapists are aware they are offering minors life-changing interventions they cannot fully understand.
"No child is ever born in the wrong body. Children depend on adults to guide and empower them to feel comfortable and confident in their own skin – not to push them down a dangerous and irreversible path of transition."
The files reveal what we already knew to be true – children cannot consent to life-altering procedures in the full knowledge of the consequences involved. When it comes to discussing the impact that the treatment will have on their fertility, one medical professional commented, ‘most of the kids are nowhere in any kind of brain space to really talk about it in a serious way, Yet, doctors proceeded with life-altering surgeries regardless’, adding, ‘that has always bothered me’.
These latest concerns build on a growing pushback against WPATH’s model of affirmation. Finland abandoned the controversial WPATH “standards of care” in 2020 and set in place far more cautious guidelines that give stronger protections for under-18s. Sweden and the United Kingdom followed in 2022. This should serve as an important warning to other countries, and also the UN after the World Health Organization launched its own expert group to develop gender ‘guidelines’ which has been criticized for including only those promoting transition, including several closely associated with WPATH.
Children who experience discomfort with their biological sex deserve to be treated with dignity and respect and need compassionate, effective mental health care. Sadly, at the hands of ‘gender clinics’ around the world armed with the WPATH ‘standards of care’, they have been pushed in only one direction. There is a mounting and tragic cost to this ideology, revealed by the many stories of those ‘de-transitioning’ or who otherwise regret what was done to them. Ultimately, vulnerable children and adults who deserved better were led to irreversible interventions; those who spoke out were censored. It’s time for more governments to act.”
