So happy to hear about this. You're right. The focus is always on minors with most ppl saying "once an adult you can do whatever you want" (even tho many do think transition services should be limited, even as an adult,since the brain doesn't fully develop until 25yo). I don't live in a state where trans healthcare is covered under Medicaid (at least not to my knowledge) so this aspect is something I've never really heard much about. Thanks for sharing about it.
You have such an important message, to address the legal and insurance policies allowing this malpractice. And so beautifully written.
Thank you so much. I'm forwarding this to a pediatrician. I hope others will consider forwarding this to a pediatrician or other MD, also. Or to a politician.
**
On Sunday, I spent an hour in front of Safeway, handing out quarter-sheet fliers to people exiting the store.
Because I'm afraid of the very real danger of approaching people about this in my almost all-blue County, the topic you raised about insurance for detransitioner's healthcare is what I lead with because it's safest, although I'm concerned about all the related issues of cross-sex identification, as well.
For others interested in doing similar, the flier I use is on the DetransAwareness.org site, under Resources (or similar). It has the names, addresses, and phone numbers of Biden, Schumer, Pelosi, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, with the sample message, "Fund healthcare for Detransitioners." It also lists some websites for more information.
I ask people, "May I give you a flier?:
If they say yes, I say, "This is about Detransitioners. These are people who believed they were transgender, then changed their minds, and decided that wasn't the right pathway for them. They can get public or private insurance to cover the risky hormones and surgeries, but can't get coverage for the counseling and medical care they need to address what's been done to them, to the extent possible. There's information here about it. We're asking people to contact Biden and other electeds, to ask them to provide healthcare for Detransitioners."
And if they express concern or outrage, I tell them, "Call Biden and give him a piece of your mind. He needs to know what you're thinking."
~50 people took fliers in an hour, and ~10-15 said they'd make those calls. Not one person disagreed. Almost all seemed saddened, concerned, or pissed!
It was a gratifying way to spend an hour, and felt good to be raising consciousness in my local community, where I feel completely isolated.
I share this because I hope that if anyone else here has been struggling to get up the courage to reach out to the public in person, as I have, this will provide some ideas and encouragement to do so as well, however works for you.
I love reading about the actions others are taking, and hope to read whatever of you are doing.
Thanks again to the author of this, for providing us with a great article for sharing.
What if it's the Government doing the funding? Our VA is funding transitions, egg harvesting and in vitro fertilization for veterans who want this! My 30 y/o veteran daughter. She would not be doing this if they weren't funding it, as she has no resources.
Thank you, so much, for your efforts. I’m fairly new to this arena & still trying to wrap my head around so much. I’ve learned more about transgender, since Nov. ‘2022, than I fathomed possible. I feel as I’ve been much more naive than I thought. I’m somewhat overwhelmed and equally disgusted by what I’ve learned. As, I’m guessing, most parents out there, my husband and I were blindsided by our 23 year old daughter’s announcement. I’ve scrolled through past photos, text conversations, emails, etc. looking for missed clues, questioning my parenting, and so on. I’ve asked our son if he saw clues. We all agreed we saw possibilities of lesbianism or confusion, but not the desire or inclination to be the opposite sex. As a nurse, it’s difficult to treat patients that have physical ailments, like breathing difficulties, so intent on making sure I use correct pronouns prior to addressing their inability to breathe. How did we get here? I’ve submitted videos to nursing instructors, requesting they show them to their psych students, addressing these issues. I’ve written letters to government officials requesting further investigation into affirming practices. Yet, the most frustrating aspect is when showing those same videos to my daughter it’s met with the accusations of transphobia. No matter how much I emphasize the surgical & hormonal risks it’s met with emphatic resistance. This is the same person with anxiety towards driving a car. I’m baffled, to say the least.
What would you suggest in terms of being the most effective way to push forward on prevention? I’m happy to see greater awareness starting. Yet, I kept getting pop ups declaring 3/13 as detrans day & when I searched for outcomes in the news I found little to no coverage.
Sorry to ramble on. I’m just so perplexed by ALL of this. To me it’s simply big pharma & money along with abhorrent medicalization.
#DetransAwarenessDay, which is annually on 12 March, is omitted from the pinprick.shop 2023-lgbt-calendar. How odd. But hey, it's probably nothing compared to International Pronoun Day on the third Wednesday in October or Gay Uncle Day on second Sunday in August.
Linked here below are the LGBT+ Calendar of Pride, Awareness, Visibility and Remembrance Days in 2023. As they say, you can "Celebrate Pride all year in 2023!" - except #DetransAwarenessDay, obviously.
I will be trying to bring this point to any brainbow-washed people I meet in the coming year of Pride.
(Comment 3/3) Depression, mental disorders, cardiovascular diseases, autoimmune diseases, and increased suicidal thoughts – no wonder the overall mortality risks of transgender women are so much higher than the general population (bit.ly/3YKYiUz - this landmark study looked at the mortality risks of transgender people in the Netherlands over five decades, between 1972 and 2018). The deaths were attributed to cardiovascular disease (21%), cancer (32%), HIV-related disease (5%), and suicide (7.5%). Significantly, even though, thanks to medical advances, the risks of dying from HIV have gone down over the past few decades (and, presumably, the stigma against transgender people is lower now than it was 50 years back), the mortality risks did not reduce over time. These results have been replicated among US transgender patients in research from Duke University published in 2022 (bit.ly/3FlJqoE).
The mortality rates are even worse after surgery than they are after hormones – which is ironic since, if the activists were to be believed, the surgeries should have led to a more fulfilling life for a transgender woman in their quest to become their “authentic” self. One reason behind these deaths? The postoperative complications, which are widespread, right from the very beginning.
From earlier this year, the results from Canada's first vaginoplasty postoperative care clinic indicate that nearly a quarter of the trans women who were operated on accessed care in the first three after surgery, and more than half sought care within the first year. More than three-fifths (61.3%) were seen for more than one visit and presented with more than two symptoms or concerns (bit.ly/402iAup).
Common patient-reported symptoms during clinical visits included pain (53.8%), dilation concerns (46.3%) (the body identifies the neovagina as a gaping wound, and so it has to be dilated for life, including multiple times daily during the first year – do take a look at the linked aftercare regimen that runs into eight pages! - bit.ly/3yE68Vy), and surgical site/vaginal bleeding (42.5%). Sexual function concerns were also common (33.8%), with anorgasmia (inability to orgasm) (11.3%) and dyspareunia (painful intercourse) (11.3%) being the most frequent complications. The most common adverse outcomes identified by healthcare providers included hypergranulation (38.8%), urinary dysfunction (18.8%), and wound healing issues (12.5%).
We aren’t done yet. A review of the literature from 2018 (bit.ly/3YOlOQL) on complications of the neovagina in trans women after surgery show an overall complication rate of 32.5% (i.e., about one in three cases) and a reoperation rate of 21.7% (more than one in five cases) for “non-aesthetic reasons.” Another paper from 2018 (bit.ly/3ZMlza5) discusses various neovaginal complications in transwomen: 15% suffered from the stricture of the neo-urethra, leading to urinary tract infections. 10% of the cases developed scar tissues in the neovagina, causing it to become narrower and shorter. Another significant concern was “intravaginal hairballs.” Other complications include vaginal prolapse (when the top of the vagina weakens and collapses into the vaginal canal) and recto-vaginal fistulas (a tunnel between the vagina and rectum, leading to rectal discharge through the vagina).
It is difficult for anyone to come to terms with these setbacks – especially if they had been promised a life of fulfillment afterward.
But those who do muster the courage to talk mention that their life has been a “living hell since then.” (bit.ly/3ZNgX3w) Another detransitioner asserts, “This is not rare.” (bit.ly/42p8s0n)
Many of these complications will remain with the patients for life, affecting their basic day-to-day activities from morning till night (one such account makes for harrowing reading: “managing the trickle of urine from my constricted urethra after going to the toilet, the occasional shooting pain and the despair of my own stupidity”). (bit.ly/42p8s0n) It is no wonder that so many succumb to these complications – or commit suicide – so early in their lives.
(Comment 2/3) Another effect of estrogen that is extremely concerning is its role in autoimmune diseases. Adult women are disproportionately more prone to allergies, asthma, and autoimmune diseases than men (growing up, boys have more allergies than girls, but the ratios flip completely after puberty), but the huge spike of synthetic estrogen hormones changes that equation for trans women (bit.ly/3TcHtkk). For example, one parent I talked to mentioned how their son used to be the prime caretaker of the cats in their house and is now (after hormones) completely allergic to them. Estrogen skews the body’s immune responses toward allergy and worsens asthma attacks, and its deleterious effects gradually progress to more severe autoimmune diseases (bit.ly/3mPzwW4).
There are case studies of increased immune-mediated rheumatic diseases (IMRD) (bit.ly/402w6xy) such as rheumatoid arthritis, spondyloarthritis (characterized by low back pain), systemic lupus erythematosus (the most common type of lupus, where the body’s immune system attacks its own tissues in joints, skin, brain, lungs, kidneys, and blood vessels), systemic sclerosis, and vasculitis (where blood vessels – both arteries and veins – are destroyed), as well as the onset of other autoimmune diseases among trans women. One parent I met at a parent group mentioned how their son suddenly developed Crohn’s disease after starting hormone therapy. A 31-year-old male detransitioner (bit.ly/3JG0Ijd) mentions developing scoliosis and osteoporosis after hormone therapy, both of which, while not autoimmune diseases themselves, are linked to (as outcomes of) autoimmune diseases.
Our understanding of these diseases (there are 76 of them, by the last count), when the immune systems that are supposed to defend our bodies from diseases but attack us instead, is still evolving. Many of them have no known cure. However, we now know that nearly 80% of the autoimmune sufferers are female, and it is now clear that many autoimmune diseases “are driven by estrogen,” specifically by spikes of estrogen in the body. (bit.ly/3l9fDJg)
As far as VTE goes, a large-scale study from 2018 among transgender patients (bit.ly/409x8YL) in the US showed that, compared to men, the incidence of venous thromboembolism or VTE (or blood clots, which include deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism) among trans women is 50% higher within the first two years of hormone treatment and more than five times higher in follow-ups beyond two years. The incidence of ischemic stroke (which occurs when the blood supply to part of the brain is interrupted or reduced, resulting in the brain cells dying within minutes) is 30% higher within the first two years and nearly ten times higher in follow-ups beyond two years. The authors conclude that "these results… indicate the need for long-term vigilance in identifying vascular side effects of cross-sex estrogen." These results weren’t outliers either – they were replicated by researchers at the Amsterdam clinic in 2019 (bit.ly/3yE5KGA).
Let me mention here that I recently spoke to a 70-year-old trans woman (who now identifies as a man after forty years of hormones and surgeries and living as a woman). He suffers from many of the diseases I mentioned above: several heart attacks (the first one before 40), hypertension, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, low back pain, allergies, asthma, retinal detachment in one eye and loss of sight in another, and a cocktail of medication for his heart. He has had stones in his liver ("the doctors had never seen anything like that"), kidney, gallbladder, and saliva ducts ("the size of lime pits, and they had to operate inside my mouth to get them out."). He has not been intimate with a woman for over 30 years - all of that went away after his orchiectomy. He called himself a "eunuch without any sexual desires." Several of his friends (all trans) have either succumbed to disease or committed suicide. Fortunately, as a vet, he has the VA to go to: many of our sons won't have the luxury of the government to take care of their ailments.
We should remind ourselves that the recent research probably vastly undercounts both the number of disease incidences and the diseases themselves. Historically, the medical establishment could be least bothered by what is happening to an impoverished, marginalized population that stayed in the shadows and was considered freaks by the general public. There was no money there. When a transgender person died, nobody cared, and there was no autopsy or investigation. Any "research" carried out was by a few "doctors" who handed out off-label drugs or performed surgeries away from the spotlight. If these doctors came to know or suspect anything, they had no incentive to publicize those findings to the general public and "out" themselves. There were no gullible journals or conferences to virtue-signal their junk research in. All the while, these people died an early death. And those early deaths are staggering.
(Comment 1/3) While not focused specifically on transgender issues, the research in the last few years in the areas of endocrinology, neuroendocrinology, and neuroscience have given us a much better understanding of the effect of excess estrogen on the brain. In 2018, researchers from Germany showed that increased estrogen levels are associated with depression in males (bit.ly/3yFaQlG). No wonder the recent highly-touted (by the transgender activists) NEJM study (bit.ly/3JjYYKK) showed no improvement among males.
Two years later, in 2020, researchers from Spain found out why that is so by administering pharmacological doses of estradiol in adult male rats (bit.ly/3mUdVvy). They found that when treated with estrogen, the brains of adult male rats show changes that are similar to those observed in the brains of trans women. One of the effects of estrogen is to reduce the water content within the glial or “glue” cells as well as the axons in the brain, thereby reducing the cortical white matter integrity (bit.ly/3JjOX0c) in the brain. This is important because reduced white matter integrity has been found to be related to cognitive instability (bit.ly/3YOzFpU).
Specifically, by reducing the water content, the estradiol increased the relative concentration of glutamate and glutamine in the brain, an excess of which, as the Cleveland Clinic notes (cle.clinic/3JBEmiG), is associated with such diseases as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Huntington’s disease. Estradiol also decreased the brain cortical volume, which, from recent neuroimaging studies (in 2020), has been linked to patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (bit.ly/3TgIGH9).
Evidence from the real world backs up these findings. In 2020, at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference 2020, researchers from the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health presented their findings showing a 37% higher prevalence of subjective cognitive decline (bit.ly/3Fnh8dr), which is an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease, among transgender and gender nonbinary adults in the US.
Going back to those glial cells, in the past few years, there has been a wealth of research on these cells in our brains, and this research indicates that these cells do much more than merely being the “glue” that binds everything in the brain (econ.st/3JECwxu). We now know that misbehaving glial cells are the culprit behind a range of conditions, from autism to multiple sclerosis to obsessive-compulsive disorder. Astrocytes play a crucial role in memory formation, consolidating relevant short-term memories into long-term ones (those of us who have noticed that our sons have suddenly started having "brain fog," you know the culprit – estrogen). Disorders in astrocytes (bit.ly/3FjDYCQ) are related to a wide range of different neuropathologies. There is evidence that malfunctioning astrocytes contribute to mental disorders like schizophrenia, mood disorders such as depression and anxiety, drug dependence, mental retardation, and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.
Interestingly, it has been shown that the brains of depressed suicide victims had a markedly lesser volume of astrocytes as compared to healthy brains (bit.ly/3YM6PGT). So, when estrogen reduces the water content in astrocytes, not only do many neuropathologies follow, but the subjects also become depressed and more liable to commit suicide. Transgender activists would have us believe that suicide among transgender people stems from their marginalization. That is definitely a possibility. However, the research from the past few years provides a much better explanation: those suicides stem from the hormones themselves.
Corinna Cohn is working on a suit to make doctors vulnerable to being sued for, I believe, 30 years after transitioning a patient, instead of the current 1 or 2 years. Does anyone know if there are any new developments with that?
If I'm not mistaken, as long as the courts continue to accept WPATH's Standard's of Care as the authority on transition, doctors run almost no risk of getting sued. The standards are worded to protect doctors, even in cases of pediatric transition.
The points raised in this article are so important. Doctors and activists like to call detransition "retransition" to remove any implication that transition might have been a mistake (instead, it was a stage along the journey of self-discovery). How, then, can it be justifiable to only fund the first leg of that "journey?" And, if transition is just a step on a journey, how can they talk about "the trans child" as though a person's gender identity were fixed in childhood? There are so many contradictions. I agree with the premise of this article that a way to try to put an end to all this harm is to make it too expensive for insurers (or for the American people, since we all pay for it through our insanely expensive premiums and deductibles) in the short term. Maybe that would finally wake people up.
Thank you for what you are doing! Yes, the medical companies need to be held accountable and should be forced to correct the damage they caused. The detransitioners need the same care, consideration and treatment as the "gung-ho trans patients" who were tricked into thinking drugs and surgery would make them happy. The medical field must be responsible to reverse and correct what was done to these bodies of the confused boys and girls who were desperate to find a solution but who were led to the slaughter house instead. I applaud you for taking this legislative stand. We must stay strong - together we are a force to be reckoned with!
So happy to hear about this. You're right. The focus is always on minors with most ppl saying "once an adult you can do whatever you want" (even tho many do think transition services should be limited, even as an adult,since the brain doesn't fully develop until 25yo). I don't live in a state where trans healthcare is covered under Medicaid (at least not to my knowledge) so this aspect is something I've never really heard much about. Thanks for sharing about it.
Thank you for sharing.
You have such an important message, to address the legal and insurance policies allowing this malpractice. And so beautifully written.
Thank you so much. I'm forwarding this to a pediatrician. I hope others will consider forwarding this to a pediatrician or other MD, also. Or to a politician.
**
On Sunday, I spent an hour in front of Safeway, handing out quarter-sheet fliers to people exiting the store.
Because I'm afraid of the very real danger of approaching people about this in my almost all-blue County, the topic you raised about insurance for detransitioner's healthcare is what I lead with because it's safest, although I'm concerned about all the related issues of cross-sex identification, as well.
For others interested in doing similar, the flier I use is on the DetransAwareness.org site, under Resources (or similar). It has the names, addresses, and phone numbers of Biden, Schumer, Pelosi, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, with the sample message, "Fund healthcare for Detransitioners." It also lists some websites for more information.
I ask people, "May I give you a flier?:
If they say yes, I say, "This is about Detransitioners. These are people who believed they were transgender, then changed their minds, and decided that wasn't the right pathway for them. They can get public or private insurance to cover the risky hormones and surgeries, but can't get coverage for the counseling and medical care they need to address what's been done to them, to the extent possible. There's information here about it. We're asking people to contact Biden and other electeds, to ask them to provide healthcare for Detransitioners."
And if they express concern or outrage, I tell them, "Call Biden and give him a piece of your mind. He needs to know what you're thinking."
~50 people took fliers in an hour, and ~10-15 said they'd make those calls. Not one person disagreed. Almost all seemed saddened, concerned, or pissed!
It was a gratifying way to spend an hour, and felt good to be raising consciousness in my local community, where I feel completely isolated.
I share this because I hope that if anyone else here has been struggling to get up the courage to reach out to the public in person, as I have, this will provide some ideas and encouragement to do so as well, however works for you.
I love reading about the actions others are taking, and hope to read whatever of you are doing.
Thanks again to the author of this, for providing us with a great article for sharing.
What if it's the Government doing the funding? Our VA is funding transitions, egg harvesting and in vitro fertilization for veterans who want this! My 30 y/o veteran daughter. She would not be doing this if they weren't funding it, as she has no resources.
Worth more than Gold! Thank you!
Check out some things you can do right now...https://ourduty.group/five-ways-you-can-help-right-now/
Thank you for what you are doing. This is a problem all of us parents need help with to end the insanity.
I would like to help
Thank you, so much, for your efforts. I’m fairly new to this arena & still trying to wrap my head around so much. I’ve learned more about transgender, since Nov. ‘2022, than I fathomed possible. I feel as I’ve been much more naive than I thought. I’m somewhat overwhelmed and equally disgusted by what I’ve learned. As, I’m guessing, most parents out there, my husband and I were blindsided by our 23 year old daughter’s announcement. I’ve scrolled through past photos, text conversations, emails, etc. looking for missed clues, questioning my parenting, and so on. I’ve asked our son if he saw clues. We all agreed we saw possibilities of lesbianism or confusion, but not the desire or inclination to be the opposite sex. As a nurse, it’s difficult to treat patients that have physical ailments, like breathing difficulties, so intent on making sure I use correct pronouns prior to addressing their inability to breathe. How did we get here? I’ve submitted videos to nursing instructors, requesting they show them to their psych students, addressing these issues. I’ve written letters to government officials requesting further investigation into affirming practices. Yet, the most frustrating aspect is when showing those same videos to my daughter it’s met with the accusations of transphobia. No matter how much I emphasize the surgical & hormonal risks it’s met with emphatic resistance. This is the same person with anxiety towards driving a car. I’m baffled, to say the least.
What would you suggest in terms of being the most effective way to push forward on prevention? I’m happy to see greater awareness starting. Yet, I kept getting pop ups declaring 3/13 as detrans day & when I searched for outcomes in the news I found little to no coverage.
Sorry to ramble on. I’m just so perplexed by ALL of this. To me it’s simply big pharma & money along with abhorrent medicalization.
#DetransAwarenessDay, which is annually on 12 March, is omitted from the pinprick.shop 2023-lgbt-calendar. How odd. But hey, it's probably nothing compared to International Pronoun Day on the third Wednesday in October or Gay Uncle Day on second Sunday in August.
Linked here below are the LGBT+ Calendar of Pride, Awareness, Visibility and Remembrance Days in 2023. As they say, you can "Celebrate Pride all year in 2023!" - except #DetransAwarenessDay, obviously.
I will be trying to bring this point to any brainbow-washed people I meet in the coming year of Pride.
http://roadlesstraveller.blogspot.com/2023/03/LGBT-Calendar-omits-Detrans-Awareness.html
(Comment 3/3) Depression, mental disorders, cardiovascular diseases, autoimmune diseases, and increased suicidal thoughts – no wonder the overall mortality risks of transgender women are so much higher than the general population (bit.ly/3YKYiUz - this landmark study looked at the mortality risks of transgender people in the Netherlands over five decades, between 1972 and 2018). The deaths were attributed to cardiovascular disease (21%), cancer (32%), HIV-related disease (5%), and suicide (7.5%). Significantly, even though, thanks to medical advances, the risks of dying from HIV have gone down over the past few decades (and, presumably, the stigma against transgender people is lower now than it was 50 years back), the mortality risks did not reduce over time. These results have been replicated among US transgender patients in research from Duke University published in 2022 (bit.ly/3FlJqoE).
The mortality rates are even worse after surgery than they are after hormones – which is ironic since, if the activists were to be believed, the surgeries should have led to a more fulfilling life for a transgender woman in their quest to become their “authentic” self. One reason behind these deaths? The postoperative complications, which are widespread, right from the very beginning.
From earlier this year, the results from Canada's first vaginoplasty postoperative care clinic indicate that nearly a quarter of the trans women who were operated on accessed care in the first three after surgery, and more than half sought care within the first year. More than three-fifths (61.3%) were seen for more than one visit and presented with more than two symptoms or concerns (bit.ly/402iAup).
Common patient-reported symptoms during clinical visits included pain (53.8%), dilation concerns (46.3%) (the body identifies the neovagina as a gaping wound, and so it has to be dilated for life, including multiple times daily during the first year – do take a look at the linked aftercare regimen that runs into eight pages! - bit.ly/3yE68Vy), and surgical site/vaginal bleeding (42.5%). Sexual function concerns were also common (33.8%), with anorgasmia (inability to orgasm) (11.3%) and dyspareunia (painful intercourse) (11.3%) being the most frequent complications. The most common adverse outcomes identified by healthcare providers included hypergranulation (38.8%), urinary dysfunction (18.8%), and wound healing issues (12.5%).
We aren’t done yet. A review of the literature from 2018 (bit.ly/3YOlOQL) on complications of the neovagina in trans women after surgery show an overall complication rate of 32.5% (i.e., about one in three cases) and a reoperation rate of 21.7% (more than one in five cases) for “non-aesthetic reasons.” Another paper from 2018 (bit.ly/3ZMlza5) discusses various neovaginal complications in transwomen: 15% suffered from the stricture of the neo-urethra, leading to urinary tract infections. 10% of the cases developed scar tissues in the neovagina, causing it to become narrower and shorter. Another significant concern was “intravaginal hairballs.” Other complications include vaginal prolapse (when the top of the vagina weakens and collapses into the vaginal canal) and recto-vaginal fistulas (a tunnel between the vagina and rectum, leading to rectal discharge through the vagina).
It is difficult for anyone to come to terms with these setbacks – especially if they had been promised a life of fulfillment afterward.
But those who do muster the courage to talk mention that their life has been a “living hell since then.” (bit.ly/3ZNgX3w) Another detransitioner asserts, “This is not rare.” (bit.ly/42p8s0n)
Many of these complications will remain with the patients for life, affecting their basic day-to-day activities from morning till night (one such account makes for harrowing reading: “managing the trickle of urine from my constricted urethra after going to the toilet, the occasional shooting pain and the despair of my own stupidity”). (bit.ly/42p8s0n) It is no wonder that so many succumb to these complications – or commit suicide – so early in their lives.
(Comment 2/3) Another effect of estrogen that is extremely concerning is its role in autoimmune diseases. Adult women are disproportionately more prone to allergies, asthma, and autoimmune diseases than men (growing up, boys have more allergies than girls, but the ratios flip completely after puberty), but the huge spike of synthetic estrogen hormones changes that equation for trans women (bit.ly/3TcHtkk). For example, one parent I talked to mentioned how their son used to be the prime caretaker of the cats in their house and is now (after hormones) completely allergic to them. Estrogen skews the body’s immune responses toward allergy and worsens asthma attacks, and its deleterious effects gradually progress to more severe autoimmune diseases (bit.ly/3mPzwW4).
There are case studies of increased immune-mediated rheumatic diseases (IMRD) (bit.ly/402w6xy) such as rheumatoid arthritis, spondyloarthritis (characterized by low back pain), systemic lupus erythematosus (the most common type of lupus, where the body’s immune system attacks its own tissues in joints, skin, brain, lungs, kidneys, and blood vessels), systemic sclerosis, and vasculitis (where blood vessels – both arteries and veins – are destroyed), as well as the onset of other autoimmune diseases among trans women. One parent I met at a parent group mentioned how their son suddenly developed Crohn’s disease after starting hormone therapy. A 31-year-old male detransitioner (bit.ly/3JG0Ijd) mentions developing scoliosis and osteoporosis after hormone therapy, both of which, while not autoimmune diseases themselves, are linked to (as outcomes of) autoimmune diseases.
Our understanding of these diseases (there are 76 of them, by the last count), when the immune systems that are supposed to defend our bodies from diseases but attack us instead, is still evolving. Many of them have no known cure. However, we now know that nearly 80% of the autoimmune sufferers are female, and it is now clear that many autoimmune diseases “are driven by estrogen,” specifically by spikes of estrogen in the body. (bit.ly/3l9fDJg)
As far as VTE goes, a large-scale study from 2018 among transgender patients (bit.ly/409x8YL) in the US showed that, compared to men, the incidence of venous thromboembolism or VTE (or blood clots, which include deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism) among trans women is 50% higher within the first two years of hormone treatment and more than five times higher in follow-ups beyond two years. The incidence of ischemic stroke (which occurs when the blood supply to part of the brain is interrupted or reduced, resulting in the brain cells dying within minutes) is 30% higher within the first two years and nearly ten times higher in follow-ups beyond two years. The authors conclude that "these results… indicate the need for long-term vigilance in identifying vascular side effects of cross-sex estrogen." These results weren’t outliers either – they were replicated by researchers at the Amsterdam clinic in 2019 (bit.ly/3yE5KGA).
Let me mention here that I recently spoke to a 70-year-old trans woman (who now identifies as a man after forty years of hormones and surgeries and living as a woman). He suffers from many of the diseases I mentioned above: several heart attacks (the first one before 40), hypertension, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, low back pain, allergies, asthma, retinal detachment in one eye and loss of sight in another, and a cocktail of medication for his heart. He has had stones in his liver ("the doctors had never seen anything like that"), kidney, gallbladder, and saliva ducts ("the size of lime pits, and they had to operate inside my mouth to get them out."). He has not been intimate with a woman for over 30 years - all of that went away after his orchiectomy. He called himself a "eunuch without any sexual desires." Several of his friends (all trans) have either succumbed to disease or committed suicide. Fortunately, as a vet, he has the VA to go to: many of our sons won't have the luxury of the government to take care of their ailments.
We should remind ourselves that the recent research probably vastly undercounts both the number of disease incidences and the diseases themselves. Historically, the medical establishment could be least bothered by what is happening to an impoverished, marginalized population that stayed in the shadows and was considered freaks by the general public. There was no money there. When a transgender person died, nobody cared, and there was no autopsy or investigation. Any "research" carried out was by a few "doctors" who handed out off-label drugs or performed surgeries away from the spotlight. If these doctors came to know or suspect anything, they had no incentive to publicize those findings to the general public and "out" themselves. There were no gullible journals or conferences to virtue-signal their junk research in. All the while, these people died an early death. And those early deaths are staggering.
(Comment 1/3) While not focused specifically on transgender issues, the research in the last few years in the areas of endocrinology, neuroendocrinology, and neuroscience have given us a much better understanding of the effect of excess estrogen on the brain. In 2018, researchers from Germany showed that increased estrogen levels are associated with depression in males (bit.ly/3yFaQlG). No wonder the recent highly-touted (by the transgender activists) NEJM study (bit.ly/3JjYYKK) showed no improvement among males.
Two years later, in 2020, researchers from Spain found out why that is so by administering pharmacological doses of estradiol in adult male rats (bit.ly/3mUdVvy). They found that when treated with estrogen, the brains of adult male rats show changes that are similar to those observed in the brains of trans women. One of the effects of estrogen is to reduce the water content within the glial or “glue” cells as well as the axons in the brain, thereby reducing the cortical white matter integrity (bit.ly/3JjOX0c) in the brain. This is important because reduced white matter integrity has been found to be related to cognitive instability (bit.ly/3YOzFpU).
Specifically, by reducing the water content, the estradiol increased the relative concentration of glutamate and glutamine in the brain, an excess of which, as the Cleveland Clinic notes (cle.clinic/3JBEmiG), is associated with such diseases as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Huntington’s disease. Estradiol also decreased the brain cortical volume, which, from recent neuroimaging studies (in 2020), has been linked to patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (bit.ly/3TgIGH9).
Evidence from the real world backs up these findings. In 2020, at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference 2020, researchers from the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health presented their findings showing a 37% higher prevalence of subjective cognitive decline (bit.ly/3Fnh8dr), which is an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease, among transgender and gender nonbinary adults in the US.
Going back to those glial cells, in the past few years, there has been a wealth of research on these cells in our brains, and this research indicates that these cells do much more than merely being the “glue” that binds everything in the brain (econ.st/3JECwxu). We now know that misbehaving glial cells are the culprit behind a range of conditions, from autism to multiple sclerosis to obsessive-compulsive disorder. Astrocytes play a crucial role in memory formation, consolidating relevant short-term memories into long-term ones (those of us who have noticed that our sons have suddenly started having "brain fog," you know the culprit – estrogen). Disorders in astrocytes (bit.ly/3FjDYCQ) are related to a wide range of different neuropathologies. There is evidence that malfunctioning astrocytes contribute to mental disorders like schizophrenia, mood disorders such as depression and anxiety, drug dependence, mental retardation, and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.
Interestingly, it has been shown that the brains of depressed suicide victims had a markedly lesser volume of astrocytes as compared to healthy brains (bit.ly/3YM6PGT). So, when estrogen reduces the water content in astrocytes, not only do many neuropathologies follow, but the subjects also become depressed and more liable to commit suicide. Transgender activists would have us believe that suicide among transgender people stems from their marginalization. That is definitely a possibility. However, the research from the past few years provides a much better explanation: those suicides stem from the hormones themselves.
Corinna Cohn is working on a suit to make doctors vulnerable to being sued for, I believe, 30 years after transitioning a patient, instead of the current 1 or 2 years. Does anyone know if there are any new developments with that?
If I'm not mistaken, as long as the courts continue to accept WPATH's Standard's of Care as the authority on transition, doctors run almost no risk of getting sued. The standards are worded to protect doctors, even in cases of pediatric transition.
The points raised in this article are so important. Doctors and activists like to call detransition "retransition" to remove any implication that transition might have been a mistake (instead, it was a stage along the journey of self-discovery). How, then, can it be justifiable to only fund the first leg of that "journey?" And, if transition is just a step on a journey, how can they talk about "the trans child" as though a person's gender identity were fixed in childhood? There are so many contradictions. I agree with the premise of this article that a way to try to put an end to all this harm is to make it too expensive for insurers (or for the American people, since we all pay for it through our insanely expensive premiums and deductibles) in the short term. Maybe that would finally wake people up.
Thank you for what you are doing! Yes, the medical companies need to be held accountable and should be forced to correct the damage they caused. The detransitioners need the same care, consideration and treatment as the "gung-ho trans patients" who were tricked into thinking drugs and surgery would make them happy. The medical field must be responsible to reverse and correct what was done to these bodies of the confused boys and girls who were desperate to find a solution but who were led to the slaughter house instead. I applaud you for taking this legislative stand. We must stay strong - together we are a force to be reckoned with!