PATHSA is greatly concerned about the recent incident and resultant controversy where a health care practitioner in an open forum challenged the validity and credibility of gender-affirming healthcare for children and adolescents.
As a result, PATHSA and its founding members deem it not only critical, but also our professional and ethical responsibility and in the interest of public good to speak out and offer our position statement with regards to gender-affirming care for transgender children and adolescents.
PATHSA’s constitution states:
- “Develop, advocate for and promote best practices and clinical resources for gender-affirming health care.”
- “To disseminate awareness around power dynamics that are typically inherent to all health care seeker/provider interactions involving people who are part of the trans and gender-diverse communities, to acknowledge the damage that has been done by such dynamics, and to insist that gender-affirming clinicians must take steps to dismantle these typical power hierarchies.”
PATHSA in concert with many international professional healthcare bodies and associations take a gender-affirming position when it comes to transgender and gender diverse children and youth (American Counselling Association 2010; British Psychological Society, 2012; WPATH SOC 7, 2011; Psychological Society of South Africa, 2013; Oliphant et al 2018; Telfer et al, 2018). PATHSA regards gender affirmation of transgender children and adolescents as evidence based, internationally recognised and in the best interest of the child and adolescent (Bonifacio et al 2019; Deutsch, 2016; Devries, Kathard & Muller, 2020; Van Breda and Addinall, 2020; McLachlan et al, 2019; Spencer, Meer & Muller, 2017). This includes being supportive of social transition of prepubertal transgender and gender diverse children and puberty suppression for the transgender adolescent (Bonifacio, 2019; Deutsch et al, 2016; de Vries ALC et al 2011 & 2014; Durwood et al, 2017).
PATHSA strongly opposes any form of so called “conversion therapy” or “reparative therapy” imposed on transgender children and adolescents where the aim is to convince the child that their gender identity experience, which does not match their gender assigned at birth, to be a pathology and the child being counselled to accept their gender assigned at birth. Outcome research on this type of intervention has already been found to do harm, to worsen the mental health status of children and adolescents exposed to it; and it significantly increases the risk for self-harm and suicide (Durwood et al, 2017; Giovanardi, 2017; Oliphant et al, 2018). PATHSA stands in solidarity with the many international professional bodies who have declared such practices to be unethical and illegal and grounds for professional sanction of health care professionals who practice this.
PATHSA takes professional, academic and scientific exception to any religious or culturally positioned individuals and entities who from their subjective, fundamental, unscientific, non-evidence based biased positions attempt to discredit and characterise gender-affirming care of children and adolescents as an ideology. This is objectively false, inaccurate and could lead to significant harm should it result in parents being dissuaded to act in the best interests of their transgender and gender diverse children in accessing gender-affirming care (Spencer et al, 2017; Olson et al, 2018; Newhook et al, 2018)
PATHSA’s firm and clear position on gender-affirming healthcare for children and adolescents is supported and substantiated by a number of outcome studies already completed since the WPATH standards of Care version 7 was released in 2011. These are the studies that have produced good evidence for the improved mental health in children who were supported and allowed to socially transition; as well as the studies that produced good evidence that puberty suppression also results in significant improvement in the mental health of transgender and gender diverse adolescents further reducing the risk of self-harm and suicide. (Bonifacio et al, 2019; Devries et al, 2014; Durwood et al 2017; Giovanardi, 2017; Newhook et al, 2018; Olson et al, 2018)
Signed by the board and founding members of PATHSA
Chris McLachlan
Ron Addinall-van Straaten
Sakhile Msweli
Jean-Ré Jones
Elma de Vries
Anastacia Tomson
Kevin Adams
Simon Pickstone-Taylor
Mershen Pillay
John Torline
Jenna Bayer
Qhawekazi Thengwa
Elliott Kotze
Dulcy Rakumakoe
Chantal Fowler
References:
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