David J. Cavuto

Gender-affirming Care in Children - My opinion (please read & debate) Let's envision a scenario: You are a parent of a 13-year-old male child who constantly has said since early childhood that they feel as if they were meant to be a girl and insists they will be a girl when they grow up. If you aren't biased against transgenderism, you will have to debate what the right thing to do for that child is. Your two main options are as follows: (1) Hope that these feelings change and they outgrow them. (2) Visit with a pediatrician and a child psychologist to find out if your child has gender dysphoria and to discuss the possible use of puberty blockers. note: Puberty blockers usually have no lasting side effects. If you decide on option (1), you may still elect to speak to a pediatrician and a psychologist. Let's say that both of these individuals tell you that it is unlikely that your child will outgrow these feelings, and that puberty blockers are a good, safe way to prolong their options with very little chance of longterm side effects. You then weigh the following: A) Allow your child to start puberty blockers to extend the runway for an ultimate decision. B) Allow puberty to kick in, ensuring that a future transition to a transgender woman will be much less successful, and most likely cause your child to live a life in a body that they feel they don't belong in. As a parent who cares about their child, and whose ultimate goal is to see your child have longterm happiness and acceptance of who they are, you elect to start the puberty blockers until they are 15 or 16. At this point, you (along with a doctor and psychologist) need to decide on whether or not they should start hormone therapy to begin transitioning, or stop puberty blockers and let the male hormones turn them into a man. This is a super tough decision for parents. At this age the vast majority of teenagers know which gender they ultimately want to identify as and those who transition typically don't live to regret that decision (not everyone; there are a very small percentage that changes their minds later in life). So as parent you must decide what is best for your child: Let them transition and look more feminine in the long run, or allow the male hormones to kick in, ultimately masculinizing your child permanently against their wishes. Both options result in permanent changes to your child. In this case, either puberty gives them permanent male traits or hormones give them permanent female traits. It's a tough decision for parents who have no bias against transgenderism, who truly love their children and only want them to be happy in the long run. To some the idea might seem insane or ridiculous but that's not how every parent feels when it comes down to it. So ask yourself if the government should ultimately make this decision or should a parent, along with their child, a pediatrician and a psychologist make that decision? I believe it's the latter. I'd love to hear your thoughts. And for the record I am strictly against sex change surgeries for anyone under 18 years of age and don't know where I would stand on hormone therapy if it was my child. But I do know I don't want someone else making that decision for us based on political motives.