Gender-affirming hormones and surgery in transgender children and adolescents

Publication date: Available online 6 December 2018Source: The Lancet Diabetes & EndocrinologyAuthor(s): Simone Mahfouda, Julia K Moore, Aris Siafarikas, Timothy Hewitt, Uma Ganti, Ashleigh Lin, Florian Daniel ZepfSummaryThe Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guidelines on the treatment of gender incongruent people recommend the use of gender-affirming cross-sex hormone (CSH) interventions in transgender children and adolescents who request this treatment, who have undergone psychiatric assessment, and have maintained a persistent transgender identity. The intervention can help to affirm gender identity by inducing masculine or feminine physical characteristics that are congruent with an individual's gender expression, while aiming to improve mental health and quality-of-life outcomes. Some transgender individuals might also wish to access gender-affirming surgeries during adolescence; however, research to inform best clinical practice for surgeons and other medical professionals is scarce. This Review explores the available published evidence on gender-affirming CSH and surgical interventions in transgender children and adolescents, amalgamating findings on mental health outcomes, cognitive and physical effects, side-effects, and safety variables. The small amount of available data suggest that when clearly indicated in accordance with international guidelines, gender-affirming CSHs and chest wall masculinisation in transgender males are associated with improvements in menta...
Source: The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology - Category: Endocrinology Source Type: research