There is currently a law being proposed that 15 year olds should be able to access surgery, with or without parental consent. We start with Aleksa Lindberg, a transwoman who went through transition quite some years ago. Aleksa seems very level headed and explains very clearly
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her experience of dysphoria from a young age. The presenter agrees that this has been essential help for trans identified people, but that their has been a worrying increase of young girls identifying as trans many of whom have several other psychological diagnoses.
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She refers back to the lack of research in to this they investigated in the first part of this series. There’s a clip talking about the life long dependence on testosterone, that there’s not enough research in to long term effects but that the doctors *hope* and believe they are
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doing the right thing. Lennart Fällberg Head of Department, states that there is a lot of unknowns and this creates ethical issues as there is not full evidence for what they are doing. Louise Frisén is senior consultant for the team dealing with young trans people. She’s
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confused about the increase in referrals as is the rest of her team. She states that it used be that there was a 100% risk of suicide if dysphoria was not alleviated through treatment, but doesn’t think this is the case anymore, only for the most serious cases of dysphoria.
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On to a lovely young woman who has detransitioned. Johanna came out as trans at 17. She wanted testosterone and a mastectomy but had to wait one year for an appointment. She spent a huge amount of time online being affirmed that she HAD to be trans purely because she was asking
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the question. She talks about her hatred for her body, her anorexia and that since she was around 9-10 has had difficulties with her body. Due to the wait she sought help privately. Louise Frisén again. She is very confident in their methods of diagnosis. She says that from 1st
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appt to diagnosis take between 3-6 months. She is asked how come someone went from diagnosis to treatment in 5 weeks. The answer is that she assumes it was a very young child where it would have been obvious from the age of 2-3 that they were trans. When informed that this was
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a 15 and a 16 year diagnosed and medicated in less than 2 months. She guesses that they must have been extremely easy to diagnose. 5 visits is plenty. Back to Aleksa who talks more about coming to realise she was trans. She’s very engaging and honest. Talks about how someone
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said there was no guarantees that there would be approval for treatment so it almost became a challenge, a war, to be approved for meds and surgery. The presenter now talks about hormone blockers and introduces Anna Olivecrona who is an endocrinologist working within the
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paediatric doctors association (I think). She explains the function of puberty blockers and confirms that there is not enough research or knowledge about long term effects when used in this way. A clip from Australia is showed as is part of the interview with Michael Biggs.
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The presenter tells us that internationally it is being reported that hormone blockers does not make the children feel better many feel worse, the suicide risk increases. Last year 351 (?) people between the ages of 12-19 were prescribed hormone blockers in Sweden. She mentions
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She mentions that the drug used is one to chemically castrate adults. Louise Frisén confirms that blockers is an essential part of their treatment as it help young people “pass” later on. She is asked whether there is not a huge risk for the young people when taking the
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without being sure that they want to carry on with a transition. Louise Frisén believes that the risk to the children is greater if they are NOT given the blockers. Back to Johanna who talks more about how she felt and why she wanted so much that being trans would bring her
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happiness and peace within herself. That she had decided that if transition didn’t make her feel better, she would end her life. (Her honesty is heartbreaking ) She tells us that the first appointment she had was with the adult service and that the first question was “when do you
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want to start testosterone”. No questioning, no counselling. Aleksa again. Talking about the doctor who was in charge of her transition. Was told it could decrease life expectancy. The presenter reiterated that oestrogen/testosterone is a powerful & life long treatment.
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Almost halfway through, just having a quick break.
@LenaHansson1 is this sounding true to the programme?Show this thread -
Presenter now referencing back to the earlier programme and the concerns raised about the lifelong treatment and the effects on the body. There is no precise research or knowledge but they do know that the testosterone has shown an increase in cancer and heart attacks. These
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concerns has been backed up by several official bodies in Sweden. There’s a clip from a Swedish interview with Thomas Lindén where the question “what do you say to those who now say that they were not mature enough to make these decisions”. He answers that the recommendations
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from his department were based on the best knowledge they had at the time which was not complete. Kjell Asplun of the State Ethical Medicinal Dept. states that usual procedures of going through facts, looking at pros and cons, outcomes etc, has NOT been followed in this regard.
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Presenter talks about research projects across the world looking in to the health of trans people. One American research team looked at a large group of trans people, the overall happiness & wellbeing. The results for transwomen hits hard. 6 years after commencement of treatment
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there is a marked increase in the risk of strokes. Aleksa looks at the results and is clearly shocked as had never had this information before. The presenter is leaves these stats with Anna Olivecrona to discuss later. When they speak later Anna says she is extremely concerned
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at the increased risks of thrombosis due oestrogen treatment. Says the increase is huge after a relatively short period of treatment. Whilst the government and public services are no realising there is a real lack of data, the presenter now speaks to a parent who said no to
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treatment and who was then reported to Social Services in order to facilitate treatment. In Social Services literature they support this action. In the childrens clinic at Karolinska, there is even an email template for making these reports. However, on the official information
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from Karolinska they clearly state that no treatment would be undertaken without the permission of the parent. Louise Frisén (I get the sense of the Webberleys from her the more I see of her) says that the wording is unfortunate. What they really mean is that they won’t see a
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child without the parents permission. In very rare cases they might HAVE to treat without parental consent, following contact with social services. She agrees that they are not open about this and that their literature is misleading. She says that they would only do this if
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it was life threatening and the child would end their life if no treatment. Back to Aleksa. After SRS Aleksas suicidal ideation increased. Aleksa explains that once everything was done, the dysphoria and everything she’d repressed came at her at once. It got a far as putting
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a handful of tablets in her mouth, then spitting them out. Aleksa is very honest and open, it’s very moving. Johanna is speaking about recovering from anorexia and then moving on to identifying as trans, believing that if this didn’t make her feel better then she might as
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well die. The presenter now talks about a Government report from 2014 which states that young people are committing suicide whilst waiting for surgery. The report recommends that a law should be introduced to allow children young as 15 to undergo SRS without parental consent.
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This policy is strongly recommended by and lobbied for by an org called RFSL. Sandra Ehne for RFSL says that a person should be helped and not stopped from loving their best life due to laws. Åsa Lindhagen, Equalities Minister, repeats the 40% suicide stats in a radio interview.
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