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2467名瑞典人中仅21人撤销了法律性别变更——但法律层面的撤销只反映了去过渡的一小部分

性别焦虑成年人法律性别变更后的稳定性

队列与登记研究终止过渡与后悔
Authors
Kristen D. Clark, Richard A. White, Georgios Karamanis, Malin Indremo, Fatih Özel, Alkistis Skalkidou, Thomas Frisell, Fotios C. Papadopoulos
Journal
JAMA Network Open
Year
2025
Source
https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.27780

Summary

Researchers in Uppsala used Swedish national records to follow everyone first diagnosed with gender dysphoria between 2013 and 2023, 7,293 people. They checked who changed legal gender and who changed back. About a third (2,467) made a legal change. Only 21 changed back, so the estimated chance of keeping the new legal gender for 10 years was about 98%. The records are complete, but narrow. In Sweden, changing back needs a new application and a psychological assessment, so it is only a small, formal part of detransition. People who stop hormones, regret surgery or re-identify with their birth sex without changing their papers are not counted. Most people were followed for only a few years after their legal change, while detransition often happens 5 to 10 years after transition. The study shows that changing legal gender back is rare; it does not show that detransition is rare.

Key findings

  • 该研究涵盖了2013至2023年间在瑞典首次被诊断为性别焦虑的全部7,293人（4,083名出生时为女性，3,210名出生时为男性），平均每人随访约5年。
  • 2,467人（34%）变更了法律性别，平均在首次诊断后3.2年；估计10年内这样做的几率为58%。
  • 只有21人将法律性别改回出生性别：占变更者的0.9%，占整个群体的0.3%。
  • 估计10年内保留新法律性别的几率约为98%（可能在96%到99%之间），出生时为女性和男性的人之间没有差异。
  • 改回的21人与其他人相似；只有2人在18岁前被诊断，他们改回时平均约30岁。
  • 作者强调，改回法律性别不等同于去过渡，它没有说明原因或认同，应被视为最低数字。
  • 论文的讨论部分将回转率写作法律变更者的0.09%，比其自身结果中的0.9%（2,467人中的21人）低十倍。

Abstract

IMPORTANCE: The number of people seeking treatment for gender dysphoria (GD) has risen in recent decades, yet data remain limited for understanding cases of detransition (ie, the reversal of social, medical, or legal transition). Legal gender change in national registers poses an opportunity to examine legal gender reversals, which may reflect an aspect of the detransition process, while also informing an understanding of the stability after a legal gender change. OBJECTIVE: To determine the probability of obtaining a legal gender change and its stability over time among people diagnosed with GD in Sweden during a 10-year study period. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: In this population cohort study using data from Swedish national registers from January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2023, individuals who received their first International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision (ICD-10), diagnosis code for GD during the study period were included. While participants may have received a GD ICD-10 code as youths, legal gender changes only occurred for adults (aged ≥18 years) based on legal requirements during the time of data collection. EXPOSURE: Gender dysphoria. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Legal gender change and its stability, that is, absence of legal gender reversal, as reported in the registry. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to determine the probability of legal gender change and its stability during a 10-year study period. RESULTS: A total of 7293 people with a GD diagnosis were included (36 025 person-years). Approximately one-third of the sample (n = 2467) obtained a legal gender change during the study period. The probability of legal gender change at 10 years following diagnosis was 58.3% (95% CI, 56.2%-60.4%). Twenty-one cases of legal gender reversal were identified. The probability of legal gender stability at 10 years following the initial change was 97.7% (95% CI, 96.3%-99.2%), with no differences by sex assigned at birth for either outcome. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this cohort study using national population registry data, a significant proportion of participants with GD in Sweden obtained legal gender change within 10 years of follow-up. Despite significant growth of the population with GD, the probability of legal gender stability during the 10-year study period was high, at almost 98%. These results highlight that legal gender reversal was an infrequent occurrence in a national sample.

Conclusion

In this cohort study using national population registry data, a significant proportion of participants with gender dysphoria in Sweden obtained legal gender change within 10 years of follow-up. Despite significant growth of the population with gender dysphoria, the probability of legal gender stability during the 10-year study period was high, at almost 98%, and legal gender reversal was an infrequent occurrence in a national sample. No differences by sex assigned at birth were observed, and most individuals who legally reverted were in their twenties at first diagnosis. The authors note that legal gender reversal is not synonymous with detransition, should be considered a lower-bound approximation, and cannot be generalized to social or medical detransition.