How Young is Too Young?

Currently, my youngest trans-identified client is 4-years-old. I’m currently working with several children this age, actually. And I have a lot of clients under the age of 13-years-old. The question I hear most frequently from parents, caregivers and even folks in the media is, “But, isn’t this a little too young for someone to know?”

I certainly get the concern behind this question. I mean, for some of these kids approaching puberty, we’re beginning to have conversations about gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogues to delay puberty. The rationale behind this is that the child will have an opportunity to suspend puberty of his/her anatomical sex in an effort to determine if her/his identity remains consistent. If it does, the teen will be given hormone therapy in order for their body to develop in a more appropriate gender presentation. If the identity remains questionable, they are taken off the puberty delaying hormones and they resume the puberty that was temporarily put on hold.

Recently I served as an expert witness on behalf of a minor who was requesting a legal name change. Even in this case, when no form of medication was even being discussed, the judge repeatedly asked me if, “this is too young for this individual to engage in this extent of legal transition.”

My response to this judge (who by the way, after an hour of intense grilling, agreed that for this child, it was an appropriate request and granted the name change) was, “Your Honor, in my clinical judgment, this child is transsexual. He was born female-bodied and has insisted for his entire life that he’s a boy. The only time he is happy is when he is affirmed as male by his family and community. Prior to the parents understanding the degree of this child’s distress a few years ago, and doing extensive research, this child stayed indoors and had no friends. Currently he is a popular, well-adjusted young man who is thriving socially and academically. And, in my opinion, the worst thing that happens in this case is that the child determines that this was a mistake and the family returns to court and pays to have it changed back. Either way, this child will know that his family unconditionally loves him and will go to extraordinary lengths to support him. So, no, Your Honor, I don’t feel that this is too young.”

What I just shared is about a name change. There are many other ways in which young people socially transition. Some change clothing and request that people refer to them by their preferred pronoun, while others consider the puberty-delaying hormones or even hormone therapy. When is “too young”? That’s a tough one. But, from the stories I hear of adult transsexuals, there is no such thing!

Contact Dr. Angello through her website.

Tags: featured, puberty blockers, Transgender, Transition, Transsexual

Category: Transgender Body & Soul