Pro-transgender protesters in Montreal, Canada, on March 17, 2023. (Andrej Ivanov/AFP via Getty Images)
Alberta’s sweeping changes to restrict medical transitioning for children are a first in Canada in the face of ever-increasing numbers of children surgically altering their bodies.
Some states are considering laws to allow individuals who were provided transgender medical care to launch civil lawsuits for medical malpractice.
In Hawaii, Oklahoma, and New Jersey, legislation has been introduced to require jail time for medical professionals who offer gender-altering treatment or procedures to those under 18.
Those aged 16 and 17 will be permitted to take medications for gender reassignment “so long as they are deemed mature enough to make these decisions and have parental, physician, and psychologists’ approval,” Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said on Jan. 31.
Europe
In the United Kingdom, gender-transition surgery is not permitted for children under 18, and medications like puberty blockers are only permitted if the patient has met “strict criteria.” Cross-sex hormones are permitted for individuals who are 17 and have been on puberty blockers for at least 12 months.
“Most treatments offered at this stage are psychological rather than medical,” the NHS website says. “This is because in many cases gender variant behaviour or feelings disappear as children reach puberty.”
Finland opted to focus on mental health interventions for those identifying as different genders.
Sweden’s National Board of Health and Welfare aimed to update its policy, and advise against puberty blockers, surgery, and hormonal treatments before adulthood.
Rise of Transgender Treatments
According to an industry analysis by India- and U.S.-based Grand View Research, the U.S. sex-reassignment surgery market was estimated at US$2.1 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.25 percent from 2023 to 2030.
“The rising prevalence of gender dysphoria and the increasing number of individuals in the U.S. opting for gender affirmation surgeries are expected to boost market growth over the forecast period,” the analysis found.
In 2017, 15,172 children and teens between the ages of 6 and 17 in the United States were diagnosed with gender dysphoria. By 2021, that number had grown to 42,167.
The data show that “top surgery” to remove breasts is more common among teens than other types of transgender surgery.
From 2019 to 2021, at least 776 mastectomies, the surgical removal of breasts, were performed in the United States on patients ages 13 to 17 with a gender dysphoria diagnosis. The information is based on insurance claims and does not include treatments that were privately paid for.