Laura Edwards-Lieper

But it wasn't just that clinics were seeing a lot more patients. They were also reporting that the kinds of patients coming in were starting to change, too. There were far more kids who were born female. In a lot of clinics, it was twice as many. Whereas before, there had been slightly more kids who were born male. There were also more kids identifying as non-binary.

But it wasn't just that clinics were seeing a lot more patients. They were also reporting that the kinds of patients coming in were starting to change, too. There were far more kids who were born female. In a lot of clinics, it was twice as many. Whereas before, there had been slightly more kids who were born male. There were also more kids identifying as non-binary.

So not as trans boys or trans girls, but more fluid or in between.

So not as trans boys or trans girls, but more fluid or in between.

There were more kids who had first expressed feelings of gender dysphoria in their teenage years as opposed to early childhood.

There were more kids who had first expressed feelings of gender dysphoria in their teenage years as opposed to early childhood.

There were kids who had more complicated psychological profiles with higher rates of conditions like anxiety, depression, ADHD. There were also even more kids with autism compared to years before. It was a new group of patients that often didn't fit the profile of the kids the Dutch studied. They weren't like FG or Manon.

There were kids who had more complicated psychological profiles with higher rates of conditions like anxiety, depression, ADHD. There were also even more kids with autism compared to years before. It was a new group of patients that often didn't fit the profile of the kids the Dutch studied. They weren't like FG or Manon.

And Laura said she started to notice that as more and more clinics were opening in the U.S. to meet the demands of this new group of patients.

And Laura said she started to notice that as more and more clinics were opening in the U.S. to meet the demands of this new group of patients.

the thinking over how best to treat them was changing too.

the thinking over how best to treat them was changing too.

She was seeing providers moving away from extensive mental health assessments and toward an approach that put much more emphasis on what the kids said they wanted.

She was seeing providers moving away from extensive mental health assessments and toward an approach that put much more emphasis on what the kids said they wanted.

But from Laura's telling, she didn't fully understand just how much the field was changing until she was invited to speak at a gender conference in 2015.

But from Laura's telling, she didn't fully understand just how much the field was changing until she was invited to speak at a gender conference in 2015.

She was one of four panelists discussing age limits for hormone treatments in front of an audience of other clinicians.

She was one of four panelists discussing age limits for hormone treatments in front of an audience of other clinicians.

We spoke with one of the other providers on the panel and the conference organizer. They both said the discussion was tense and that it really became a two-person debate.

We spoke with one of the other providers on the panel and the conference organizer. They both said the discussion was tense and that it really became a two-person debate.