A new study in the journal Pediatrics is being propelled by the media as evidence that few children change their minds after socially transitioning.
The study followed roughly 300 children who had socially transitioned to live as the opposite sex. (Nonbinary and third genders were not as popular five years ago, when study data were first being collected, so these children had transitioned to live as either female or male.) At enrollment, they were between the ages of 3 and 12 years old, and approximately 12% had begun puberty blockade prior to beginning the study.
About 7% of the children changed their gender identity at five years post-social transition. An example of a change would be returning to living as his or her birth sex or deciding to live as nonbinary. In some cases, children changed their minds more than once.
For example, after the initial social transition to live as the opposite sex, some children decided they were nonbinary, then decided they were, again, the opposite sex. Another child decided, after the initial social transition, that they wanted to live as their birth sex before changing their mind and identifying as nonbinary.
Of note, these children displayed significant cross-sex preferences and identification, but the study didn’t assess whether they met the criteria for a diagnosis of gender dysphoria because many parents in the study didn’t believe such a diagnosis was “ethical or useful.” Parents of these children also had “disproportionately higher income and went to college at higher rates than the general population.” Take from that what you will about their politics.
The most pressing question in my mind is, why would a parent support a child’s gender transition if it hasn’t been deemed medically necessary?
Allowing children to partake in cross-sex interests doesn’t require them to live as the opposite sex. Young children also don’t have an accurate understanding of what it means to “become” the opposite sex. A nonbinary self-identification can stem from this confusion.
As a result, we can’t extrapolate these findings to children who are gender dysphoric, who are statistically likely to desist. We also can’t ascertain much about children presenting with rapid-onset gender dysphoria, as this is an epidemic primarily occurring among girls and young women, and most of the children in the current study were born male. State legislation pertaining to childhood transition should consider this when making determinations about policy.
Dr. Debra Soh is a sex neuroscientist, the host of The Dr. Debra Soh Podcast, and the author of The End of Gender: Debunking the Myths About Sex and Identity in Our Society.
