Les enfants trans restent-ils trans en grandissant ?

Summary

In this 2016 blog post, Cantor asked whether children with gender distress stay trans as they grow up. He listed every follow-up study he knew of, 11 in all, from Lebovitz (1972) to Steensma and colleagues (2013). For each, he gave how many children still had gender distress and how many did not. He wrote that despite different countries, decades and methods, the studies agree: only a small minority still want to transition by adulthood, roughly 60% to 90% do not, and most of them turn out gay or lesbian. The post is a handy plain-language list of the older research, and its sources can be checked. But it is not a formal review. It has no search method, no quality rating and no combined figure. The studies used older diagnoses and were mostly of boys. The post also does not discuss published criticism of how 'growing out of it' was defined and counted.

Key findings

Cantor énumère 11 études de suivi d'enfants vus pour un comportement non conforme au genre ou une détresse de genre, publiées de 1972 à 2013, et dit que trois étaient de grande taille.
Le billet conclut que 60 % à 90 % environ des enfants vus dans de telles cliniques ne s'identifiaient plus comme trans à l'adolescence ou à l'âge adulte.
Dans les plus grandes études citées, la détresse de genre a persisté chez 17 sur 139 (Singh, garçons de Toronto), 47 sur 127 (Steensma et collègues, Amsterdam) et 21 sur 54 (Wallien et Cohen-Kettenis), soit environ 12 % à 39 %.
Cantor écrit que la plupart des enfants qui ont dépassé leur détresse de genre sont devenus gays ou lesbiennes plutôt qu'hétérosexuels.
Le billet a été écrit en janvier 2016 en réaction à la fermeture de la clinique du genre pour enfants du CAMH à Toronto.
Plusieurs des études plus anciennes sont très petites (5 à 16 enfants) et la plupart n'ont étudié que des garçons ; Drummond et collègues ont suivi 25 filles, et les deux études néerlandaises incluaient les deux sexes.
L'étude de Singh (2012) était alors une thèse de doctorat non publiée ; elle a été publiée en 2021 par Singh, Bradley et Zucker dans Frontiers in Psychiatry.

Abstract

Following the closure of the CAMH Gender Identity Clinic for children, this blog post reviews what the science says about whether children who identify as transgender remain transgender into adulthood. The post summarizes three large-scale follow-up studies and several smaller ones, all examining the outcomes of children referred to gender identity clinics. The studies span different countries, cultures, decades, and follow-up lengths and methods.

Conclusion

Despite the differences in country, culture, decade, and follow-up length and method, all the studies have come to a remarkably similar conclusion: Only very few trans- kids still want to transition by the time they are adults. Instead, they generally turn out to be regular gay or lesbian folks. The exact number varies by study, but roughly 60 – 90% of trans- kids turn out no longer to be trans by adulthood.

Methodological limitations

Not checked by other experts: This is a personal blog post, not a journal article. Its claims did not go through editing or review by other experts.
Not a formal review: It does not say how studies were found, which were included, or how good they were. So relevant studies may have been missed, and it is unclear how they were chosen.
No combined figure: The 60% to 90% range simply describes individual studies. It is not a weighted average and says nothing about how uncertain the figures are.
Small groups, mostly boys: Many listed studies were tiny (5, 8, 10 and 16 children) and most only included boys. This limits what can be said about girls, who now make up most clinic referrals.
Older diagnoses: Most studies came before today's diagnosis (DSM-5, the current US psychiatric manual) and included children seen just for gender non-conforming behaviour or milder signs. Critics argue some would not meet today's diagnosis (Temple Newhook et al., 2018, Int J Transgenderism).
How missing children were counted: In the largest Dutch study (Steensma et al., 2013), the 80 teens who did not come back to the clinic were counted as having grown out of it. Temple Newhook et al. (2018) criticised this, and the original researchers defended it. The post does not mention this.
Results measured differently: Studies used different outcomes (wish to change sex, cross-dressing, uncertain, gay, straight). The post's table mixes categories like 'trans-/crossdress' and 'uncertain', so they cannot be compared directly.
Different treatment back then: Several groups had therapy aimed at reducing cross-gender behaviour, and one was a group of hospital in-patients. Almost none had socially transitioned. So the rates may not apply to children who socially transition or are treated today.
No mention of critics: The post presents the research as all pointing the same way. It does not engage with published criticism of the methods and ethics of these studies.
Author's position: Cantor is a well-known voice in debates on youth gender medicine and has since been an expert witness in court cases about youth gender treatment. The post is commentary from one side of a disputed debate.

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Summary

Key findings

Abstract

Conclusion