Summary

Two clinicians at England's former national youth gender clinic (GIDS) looked back over 18 months of their own cases. They describe teenagers whose gender distress began in adolescence and who, after a longer assessment, no longer wanted puberty blockers (drugs that pause puberty) or hormones. They found 12 such young people out of 128 cases (9.4%). Most were girls, many were autistic, and many were self-harming or suicidal. Two case stories show how bullying, homophobia, family breakdown and distress about puberty came to be seen differently over time. The authors argue that assessment should allow unhurried exploration, while noting that many others do go on to medical treatment. It is a small case review by the treating clinicians, with no comparison group, no standard measurements and no long-term follow-up. It shows one path, but not how common it is or what caused the change.

Key findings

• De to forfatterne gikk gjennom alle tenåringer (fra 12 år og oppover) de vurderte ved GIDS mellom oktober 2015 og april 2017: 156 saker, redusert til 128 etter at noen ble utelukket.
• 12 av de 128 (9,4 %) hadde kjønnsplager som begynte i tenårene, hadde bedt om medisinsk behandling i begynnelsen og sluttet å ønske den under vurderingen.
• Av de 12 kom sju til å føle seg komfortable med fødselskjønnet sitt, mens fem fortsatt identifiserte seg som trans, men ikke lenger ønsket hormoner.
• De fleste var jenter (9 av 12), i alderen 12 til 16 år (gjennomsnitt 14). 7 var allerede diagnostisert med autisme, 7 hadde nylig tenkt på selvmord, 7 hadde skadet seg selv og 2 hadde nylig forsøkt selvmord.
• De fleste hadde ikke gjennomgått sosial overgang (7 av 12), og de fleste hadde ingen formell diagnose kjønnsdysfori fra den som henviste dem (9 av 12).
• Vurderingene var lengre enn klinikkens vanlige 3 til 6 timer: i gjennomsnitt 6,6 timer over 9,6 måneder, for det meste sammen med familien.
• To kasuistikker, en autistisk gutt på 14 år og en autistisk jente på 14 år med tidligere spiseforstyrrelse, beskriver hvordan plagene etter hvert ble forstått i lys av mobbing, homofobi, familiesammenbrudd og frykt for puberteten.
• Forfatterne etterlyser en full gjennomgang av journaler ved hele klinikken og langtidsforskning, og sier at medisinsk behandling fortsatt hjelper noen unge.

Abstract

As the number of young people referred to specialist gender identity clinics in the western world increases, there is a need to examine ways of making sense of the range and diversity of their developmental pathways and outcomes. This article presents a joint case review of the authors' caseloads over an 18-month period, to identify and describe those young people who presented to the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) with gender dysphoria (GD) emerging in adolescence, and who, during the course of assessment, ceased wishing to pursue medical (hormonal) interventions and/or who arrived at a different understanding of their embodied distress. From the 12 cases identified, 2 case vignettes are presented. Implications for the development of clinical practice, service delivery and research are considered.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the adolescents included in this review met criteria for GD and initially requested medical interventions to resolve their difficulties. Over the course of the psychosocial assessment, they came to understand their distress and its alleviation (at that particular point in time) differently and eventually chose not take a medical (hormonal) pathway and/or identified their gender identity as broadly aligned with their biological sex. Of course, this is not the case for many other young people presenting to the service and it is important to hold onto the multiplicity of possible outcomes. The study highlights the need for the psychosocial assessment to nurture a space in between the internal and external worlds of these young people. Such an assessment would need to be properly located in a developmental framework which takes seriously the inescapable in between-ness of adolescence and joins with young people and their families to broaden the narratives available to them, to make sense of gender-based distress.