…Even more so than those who accessed hormones as adults.
New research from the US has found that transgender teens having access to gender-affirming hormone therapy in adolescence leads to better mental health in adulthood.
The research, published Wednesday in PLOS One, compared data from a 2015 survey by the National Centre for Transgender Equality in which over 27,000 trans people across the US were surveyed.
As Today reports, it compared the psychological distress and suicidal thoughts experienced by 12,738 trans adults who had access to gender-affirming hormones during adolescence or adulthood with that of the 8,860 trans adults who desired such hormones but never had access to them.
Those who had access to gender-affirming hormones between the ages of 14 and 17 saw their odds of developing severe psychological distress and suicidal ideation decrease significantly in comparison to those who wanted the hormones but never had access to them.
The report found that while those who had access to gender-affirming hormones as adults also had lower odds of severe psychological distress and suicidal ideation than those who did not have access to hormones, the difference was not as stark.
Dr. Alex S. Keuroghlian, the study’s senior author and director of the National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center at The Fenway Institute and the Massachusetts General Hospital Psychiatry Gender Identity Program, said the study’s results show the dangers of banning gender-affirming medical care, including hormones, for trans minors.
A news release from Keuroghlian stated: “These results argue against waiting until adulthood to offer gender-affirming hormones to transgender adolescents and suggest that doing so may put patients at greater mental health risk.
“They also add to the growing evidence base suggesting that legislation restricting transgender adolescents’ access to gender-affirming medical care would result in adverse mental health outcomes.”
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