Updated October 23, 2024 at 12:28 PM ET
A study in JAMA Pediatrics finds that transgender teenagers who have pursued medical interventions like puberty blockers and hormones are highly satisfied with their care.
鈥淩egret was very rare,鈥� says lead author , a psychology professor at Princeton University.
It鈥檚 the latest research from the TransYouth Project, which Olson started in 2013, when transgender youth was a fairly obscure research area, far from the political limelight.
Back then, 鈥渙ur team was interested in recruiting a group of kids who were socially transitioning,鈥� she explains, meaning they started using new pronouns and names and clothes in childhood, between age 3 and 12. They found 300 families, and have followed them since, to see 鈥渨hat their life would look like as they moved into adolescence and adulthood.鈥�
The families enrolled in the program have participated in many research projects over the years, from gender development in childhood to mental health. The plan is to follow them for a total of 20 years.
The study on regret and satisfaction is based on a survey of 220 of those families. By now, the kids are teenagers 鈥� the average age of participants was 16 years old 鈥� and are several years into taking either puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones.
鈥淲hat we found was that this group had very high levels of satisfaction,鈥� she says. Olson knew from being in touch with the families that they seemed pretty happy with their care, but the results still surprised her. 鈥淚 was pretty surprised at how satisfied they were 鈥� more than 50% [rated their satisfaction] a 7 on a 7-point scale.鈥�
Only 4% of participants 鈥� nine kids 鈥� expressed regret with some aspect of their care. When the researchers asked more about these regrets, she says, 鈥渙ften the regrets they were expressing had to do with [wishing] they hadn't done blockers and they'd gone straight to hormones, or they maybe had a negative side effect related to the blockers.鈥� For instance, having an implant that got irritated.
She adds that even though regret was very rare, it鈥檚 still important and needs to be better understood.
Four kids in the study who expressed regret continued their treatments, while four more chose to stop all gender-affirming medical care and one stated that they plan to stop.
鈥淚 don't think it's at all surprising that the researchers found a lower regret rate,鈥� says Linsdey Dawson, who directs LGBTQ health policy for the nonprofit health research organization KFF. 鈥淭his aligns with previous findings that gender affirming care is associated with low regret rates in both youth and adults.鈥�
She says the findings in Olson鈥檚 study are important, and notes regret for gender affirming care is very low compared to other medical decisions, like gastric bypass surgery, which is also done on minors.
This new study comes at a time when transgender kids and their medical care is a hot topic politically 鈥� in former President Trump鈥檚 presidential campaign and in several key senate races, transgender issues are part of candidates鈥� .
Earlier this year in a campaign video, Trump said 鈥渢he left-wing gender insanity being pushed in our children is an act of child abuse 鈥� very simple,鈥� and enumerated the ways he would use his executive power to prevent people from transitioning and to punish schools and hospitals that support transgender young people.
There鈥檚 also been a on this issue at the state level in recent years. Twenty-six states have now the care the youth in this study received. Often, lawmakers speak of the prospect of children鈥檚 future regret as the reason why these bans are needed.
For instance, on the Wyoming state house floor in February, Republican Rep. Pepper Ottman she was a co-sponsor of that state鈥檚 ban. 鈥淲e need to protect these children from lifelong mistakes,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his is talking about physical changes that are not natural. These things are not good.鈥�
Virtually all major U.S. medical organizations, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, to gender-affirming care for young people.
鈥淒iscourse around regret when it comes to gender affirming care has become a significant problem because it is inaccurate,鈥� says Dawson. She points to a that found in September, the narrative that regret for gender affirming care was common was mentioned approximately 41,000 in posts, articles and comments.
Discussion of regret for trans-related care 鈥渉as become a common form of misinformation in debate and policymaking and in the courts,鈥� Dawson says.
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