{"id":1556,"date":"2024-03-24T20:32:54","date_gmt":"2024-03-24T20:32:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/juventudeemtransicao.pt\/?p=1556"},"modified":"2024-03-24T20:37:53","modified_gmt":"2024-03-24T20:37:53","slug":"we-need-balance-when-it-comes-to-gender-dysphoric-kids-i-would-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juventudeemtransicao.pt\/index.php\/2024\/03\/24\/we-need-balance-when-it-comes-to-gender-dysphoric-kids-i-would-know\/","title":{"rendered":"We Need Balance When It Comes To Gender Dysphoric Kids. I Would Know."},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Artigo original publicado na Newsweek<\/span><\/h5>\n

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I am a 48-year-old transgender man. I was thrilled when the medical community told me six years ago that I could change from a woman to a man. I was informed about all the wonderful things that would happen due to medical transition, but all the negatives were glossed over. Since then, I have suffered tremendously, including seven surgeries, a pulmonary embolism, an induced stress heart attack, sepsis, a 17-month recurring infection, 16 rounds of antibiotics, three weeks of daily IV antibiotics, arm reconstructive surgery, lung, heart and bladder damage, insomnia, hallucinations, PTSD,\u00a0$1 million<\/a>\u00a0in medical expenses, and loss of home, car, career and marriage. All this, and yet I cannot sue the surgeon responsible\u2014in part because there is no structured, tested or widely accepted baseline for transgender health care.<\/p>\n

Read that again:\u00a0There is no structured, tested, or widely accepted baseline for transgender health care<\/em>. Not for 42-year-olds, and not for the many minors embarking on medical transition in record numbers. It is not transphobic or discriminatory to discuss this\u2014we as a society need to fully understand what we are encouraging our children to do to their bodies.<\/p>\n

Throughout transition, I second-guessed my decisions, but each counseling session and doctor’s appointment amounted to one more push convincing me I could be cured of being born in the wrong body. The truth was that I didn’t fit in as a dominant, aggressive, assertive lesbian. The dream of finally fitting in dangled like a carrot: The idea that I could fit in catapulted me to a time much like adolescence, with its drive for acceptance, inclusive peers and the fantasy of being normal.<\/p>\n

During my post-operation 17 months of sheer survival, I discovered that transgender health care is experimental and that large swaths of the medical industry encourage minors to transition due, at least in part, to\u00a0fat profit margins<\/a>. I was gobsmacked. Each day I researched more and became increasingly appalled. As I jumped from ER to ER desperately seeking help, I realized that nobody knew what to do. Each physician told me to return to the original surgeon. I was trapped like a child with an abusive parent.<\/p>\n

My recurring bladder infection not only demolished my body; it started to ravage my mind, too. I stopped being able to problem-solve, and then lost my health insurance when I couldn’t work. I spent many nights in the bathroom in too much pain to even make it to the toilet, forced to urinate on the floor, screaming as what felt like razor blades left my body. Rest came only in 45-minute increments that I induced with four shots of vodka, six Benadryl pills and a handful of melatonin\u2014with only sleep-deprived hallucinations for my trouble.<\/p>\n

One night I simply couldn’t take it. I wanted to die. I crawled to bed and had another hallucination. My children’s lives flashed before my eyes, and I saw the devastation my death would cause them. Right then, I made a deal with God, the universe, whatever you call it, that if my life were spared, if I were allowed to be here for my kids, I would help other kids by ensuring people knew what the experimentation of transgender health care really entails. I remember my whimpers: “God, an eye for an eye\u2014in reverse. I will fight with a mother’s passion for others if I can be here for my kids.”<\/p>\n

So here I am, a trans man, sifting through my good and bad decisions, and for the first time embracing who I am\u2014what I have created, and the life I now lead. It took me 48 years to realize I transitioned because I never wholeheartedly accepted being a lesbian. Our children don’t have a prayer to embrace the reality of something it takes a lifetime to understand. That’s\u00a0our job<\/em>, as parents: to protect them from foolish, lifelong mistakes.<\/p>\n

Here’s what I could not comprehend before transitioning and what I honestly believe no child is capable of consenting to:<\/p>\n