Cases of gender dysphoria in the U.S. among children ages 6-17, and the number of gender reassignment surgeries and prescriptions for puberty blockers as treatment skyrocketed in 2021, according to a recent study.
Komodo Health, which monitors health insurance claims to private and public health care providers in the U.S. like Medicaid, reported in October there were 42,167 diagnoses of gender dysphoria among children ages 6-17 in 2021, an increase of 17,320 over 2020 and a 122% increase over 2017 (15,172). The study defines gender dysphoria as “the distress caused by identifying as a gender different from the one assigned at birth.”
The data matches the perception by many that there is an increase in the number of children receiving such care, said Patrick Brown, a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, told DailyMail.com.
The study, done in partnership with Reuters, comes as several states have placed bans on gender-affirming care for transgender minors, and as the Biden administration fights to protect such avenues for minors. An Arkansas judge is expected to soon decide in a lawsuit over the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors, the first of its kind in the U.S. enacted last year.
The study found in an analysis of insurance claims from 2019-2021, there were 56 genital surgeries among patients ages 13 to 17 with a prior gender dysphoria diagnosis. Among teens, “top surgery” to remove breasts has become more common. In the three years ending in 2021, at least 776 mastectomies were performed in the U.S. on patients ages 13 to 17 with a gender dysphoria diagnosis. The total does not include procedures paid for out of pocket.
Also, insurance claims for puberty blockers jumped to 1,319 in 2021 from 1,101 in 2020 and a 120% increase over 2017 (633). Again, the total does not included procedures paid for out of pocket. The study said puberty blockers inhibit breast development and menstruation in girls and the development of a deeper voice, an Adam’s apple, and growth of facial and body hair in boys by suppressing the release of estrogen and testosterone.
The study said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not approved the drugs used as puberty blockers for gender dysphoria. It said their "off-label use in gender-affirming care, although legal, lacks the support of clinical trials to establish their safety for such treatment."
“Children deserve to learn how to navigate this world without harmful pressure, and Florida will continue to fight for kids to be kids,” Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo said in a statement after the state’s Board of Medicine and the state Board of Osteopathic Medicine voted in November to bar children from receiving hormones or undergoing surgeries to treat gender dysphoria.
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