Azeen Ghorayshi

And so these doctors were treating these patients with hormones, giving trans women estrogen so that they developed female characteristics, giving trans men testosterone so they developed male characteristics, and they also performed surgeries.

And so these doctors were treating these patients with hormones, giving trans women estrogen so that they developed female characteristics, giving trans men testosterone so they developed male characteristics, and they also performed surgeries.

And so by the 1980s, as these treatments were becoming a little less fringe, a clinical psychologist named Peggy Cohen-Ketnes started to research how these patients were actually doing.

And so by the 1980s, as these treatments were becoming a little less fringe, a clinical psychologist named Peggy Cohen-Ketnes started to research how these patients were actually doing.

And she found that, you know, while they were still struggling, that, you know, there was still a pretty high risk of suicide in the group. The vast majority of the patients reported feeling happy about their medical transitions. Yeah. And at the same time that Peggy was doing this research... But I was also a psychotherapist. She also had a clinical practice.

And she found that, you know, while they were still struggling, that, you know, there was still a pretty high risk of suicide in the group. The vast majority of the patients reported feeling happy about their medical transitions. Yeah. And at the same time that Peggy was doing this research... But I was also a psychotherapist. She also had a clinical practice.

And she started getting a few referrals for younger patients. who were, you know, 16, 17, and who were saying really similar things as the adult patients, that they had felt they were in the wrong body for as long as they could remember.

And she started getting a few referrals for younger patients. who were, you know, 16, 17, and who were saying really similar things as the adult patients, that they had felt they were in the wrong body for as long as they could remember.

But because they weren't 18, they couldn't get treatment.

But because they weren't 18, they couldn't get treatment.

And, you know, Peggy knew that there was already all this skepticism about treating trans patients at all. And she knew it was going to be way more controversial if she tried to treat these kids who were under 18. Adolescence was known to be this period of great flux and identity exploration. And she knew there would be a lot of skepticism about whether they could make a decision like this.

And, you know, Peggy knew that there was already all this skepticism about treating trans patients at all. And she knew it was going to be way more controversial if she tried to treat these kids who were under 18. Adolescence was known to be this period of great flux and identity exploration. And she knew there would be a lot of skepticism about whether they could make a decision like this.

But she also saw that not every teenager could handle their distress for a prolonged period of time. That having to wait to get medical treatment could lead to the same dire outcomes that she saw in the adults that she'd been working with. So in her mind, if a 16 or a 17 year old was expressing as much clarity about who they are as an 18 year old, they should be able to get help.

But she also saw that not every teenager could handle their distress for a prolonged period of time. That having to wait to get medical treatment could lead to the same dire outcomes that she saw in the adults that she'd been working with. So in her mind, if a 16 or a 17 year old was expressing as much clarity about who they are as an 18 year old, they should be able to get help.

So she went to the lead endocrinologist overseeing hormone treatments for trans adults in the Netherlands.

So she went to the lead endocrinologist overseeing hormone treatments for trans adults in the Netherlands.

And together, they decide they're going to lower the age that patients can receive hormones from 18 to 16 and actually study it to see if it helps. And what they found was really interesting because... The kids who got hormones were doing better psychologically than the adults they'd been treating.

And together, they decide they're going to lower the age that patients can receive hormones from 18 to 16 and actually study it to see if it helps. And what they found was really interesting because... The kids who got hormones were doing better psychologically than the adults they'd been treating.

And she thought that part of the reason why was because they had what she called, and she wrote this in the paper, a convincing appearance. She wrote that they could more easily pass in society because intervening earlier had managed to block some of the effects of their natal puberty before it had fully set in.

And she thought that part of the reason why was because they had what she called, and she wrote this in the paper, a convincing appearance. She wrote that they could more easily pass in society because intervening earlier had managed to block some of the effects of their natal puberty before it had fully set in.