Trans Youth

What?

the listeners of Rush Limbaugh and specifically the callers after the interview ended.

lol

This rustles me something fierce. Thank God I live in California. I don’t even feel comfortable TRAVELING to some other states with my child.

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Gonna take the W but just want to highlight these monsters

The measure passed 25-13, with only Republican members opposing. Sen. Lionel Spruill, D-Chesapeake, was present but did not cast votes on any of the measures.

My biggest concerns would be medical. Once you start putting pharmacology into your body it becomes an endless treadmill of side effects and more drugs to alleviate them and side effects from those so you get more drugs to alleviate them and side effects from those so you…

I’d feel really weird watching my trans son purposefully taking drugs that would rot his ovaries to the point of almost definitely needing a hysterectomy in 5-10 years.

Which drugs do that?

I think that’s a reasonable fear. Certainly keeping a low profile if you’re spending any time in Kansas or Alabama or w/e would be something to think about.

The science on this is still new so the long term effect of androgen use on trans men is still unknown. Testosterone can regularly cause atrophy of the uterus. Some docs further suspect it leads to symptoms akin to cysts which leads to cancer so patients are getting recommended preemptive hysterectomies/oophorectomies before the 5 year mark of therapy.

In the end many patients may find the removal of their uterus and ovaries affirming of their identity but we have to be realistic that they’ve just taken drugs leading to abdominal pain/medical risks necessitating surgery/amputation.

I would love some links, I’m not challenging this, I’m legitimately interested in learning about this for obvious reasons. The doctors have been pretty thorough so I’ll be pretty shocked if it’s likely we’re looking at a hysterectomy within 5 years, but I am totally open to any information you can provide.

I have family in North Carolina, they want us to come to the Outer Banks this summer. I imagine that area is more progressive than the western part of the state, but it’s still disconcerting.

While hysterectomies are far from a catch-all they are sometimes used to prevent and/or alleviate many of the causes of pelvic pain in trans men. “Depending on the preferences and reproductive goals of an individual patient, gynecologists may revise their therapeutic approach to consider hysterectomy earlier than they might in a non transgender person”.

Trans men stop their periods shortly after taking T because of ovular suppression and endometrial atrophy. If that atrophy is complete trans men actually get less endometrial cancer than cis women. But trans men do seem to get more ovarian cancer, so lots of adult trans men on T in places with socialized medicine get their ovaries removed within a year of starting the drugs.

I am not a doctor and even if I was a doctor I’m not your doctor.

OK. I appreciate your input. If you have any links to medical studies, reports, etc, I would sincerely like to see them. I can tell you that we see one of the best doctors in the world for trans youth and are part of a large group of parents of trans kids and I’ve never heard a word about any of this. Again, if all these people are hiding something from me and there’s evidence to show that, I would sincerely like to see it, for obvious reasons.

“I am not a doctor”

Yet here you are spouting unsubstantiated fear mongering to a dad in his own thread.

Gtfo. Seriously. Ugh.

OP. There is science on this. Your sons doctors will be familiar.

Furthermore. When it comes to trans kids. The highest risk factors are psychological health. By several orders of magnitude.

A well managed transition, supported by loving family, and advised by trained medical professionals, is the approach that is supported by the best evidence we have.

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"Unopposed oestrogen increases the risk of uterine thickening in such a way that cancer is more likely to occur. In typical female physiology this does not occur (because oestrogen is ’opposed‘) but in trans men the exposure to unopposed oestrogen is prolonged. It can therefore be seen that an unlucky trans man with a predisposition for developing cancer could unwittingly be increasing his risk by taking testosterone. This risk will be cumulative, the longer the oestrogen is unopposed, the higher the risk. Therefore, younger trans men should be mindful of this.

As a separate point, enzyme pathways can become saturated. The greater the administered amount of testosterone, the more likely the conversion to oestrogen once the dihydrotestosterone pathway is saturated.

Polycystic ovary syndrome is common in women. This is a syndrome of unknown cause characterised by cyst formation in the ovaries, a slightly increased testosterone level and increased luteinising hormone (LH, a hormone in the brain). It results in irregular periods, acne, infertility, obesity and virilisation. However, it also leads to a threefold increased risk of uterine cancer and possibly ovarian cancer as well."

Another important consideration is T dosage. Once the ovaries are removed you can lower the T dose a lot because you aren’t fighting your physiology to suppress ovulation. More T doesn’t make you “more masculine” after a certain point so you patients can lower their dosage to significantly reduce their risks of side effects.

I thought you were going to stop at “i am not a doctor”???

Like. What are you doing???

I specifically said that I’m not a doctor and that they should listen to their particular doctor.

That doesn’t mean this father shouldn’t independently educate himself on the current state of trans medicine + methodology and their inherent limits.

There’s little harm in reading something like this: Cancer in Transgender People: Evidence and Methodological Considerations - PMC

Being cognizant of potential physical risks of one treatment in no way trivializes the potential mental and physical risks of not getting the treatment or getting a different treatment. I am also not attributing any particular objective value to “keeping” ones ovaries or uterus - I’m sure many trans men have no problems having them removed, especially if it can lead to a reduced dose of testosterone. It’s entirely up to the patient and their doctor (or in this case their guardian, too).

Just reminding you how you came into this discussion.

You are not a doctor. You are posting reckless, scaremongering to someone who needs support.

If you had said

“Hey OP. So glad you are supporting your son. One thing. You should ask your doctor about any potential health risks of hormone treatment, because there is some early evidence that suggests it is something to watch”

Then I wouldn’t be here telling you to fuck off.

But you didnt. So…

I apologize if my tone was callous or rude. I presumed that “support” for OP here is obviously unequivocal insofar that we recognize he is doing his best, out of love, and that we want nothing but health and happiness for his family.

It is clearly established medicine that the risk of self harm is >>> the risk to life from these medical side effects. I can see how my tone could be reckless if OP’s fear made him forget this fact or caused him to neglect to listen to his doctor.

But the medical side effects of treatment are real - and when it’s a risk to a third party that lacks capacity I’m willing to be a little obtrusive to insure their best interests are thoroughly examined. If OP clearly expressed this thread was just for support I’d have probably stayed out.

The thing is, you’re posting some conclusions/“facts” without supporting them:

drugs that would rot his ovaries to the point of almost definitely needing a hysterectomy in 5-10 years.

patients are getting recommended preemptive hysterectomies/oophorectomies before the 5 year mark of therapy

trans men do seem to get more ovarian cancer

lots of adult trans men on T in places with socialized medicine get their ovaries removed within a year of starting the drugs

Saying “the long term effects of testosterone use, including cancer risks, are not known and merit further study” is absolutely true. Which is what the one link you posted says.

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