Keeping it Together: What no one asks about gender-affirming care

Gender-affirming care is a valid, science-backed method of medicine that saves lives and that research shows results in better mental health outcomes, despite many states rolling back (or reconsidering) rights for transgender youth. Concerns about care are primarily targeted at kids, though it can involve adults too.

Hi, I'm David Oliver, one of Paste BN's wellness reporters. I spent about a month looking into a key question: Is it possible to have a conversation about the effects of this care – i.e. the potential for miscellaneous health risks such as cardiovascular disease – while also still supporting its use?

Experts say that gender-affirming care should be treated like any other form of medicine; there is room for discussion and debate on methods of treatment, but not on the validity of the care to begin with.

"In any medical field, we're continuously improving the care, changing the care, developing new guidelines, developing research," says Dr. Ximena Lopez, a pediatric endocrinologist in California. "So it should not be a surprise that it's the same in gender care."

But, Lopez adds, "I am worried that this politicized environment has limited our capacity to debate like we would in any other medical field." She's concerned the fear of being labeled transphobic – even though some people are not questioning the need for the care, just the methods of going about it – has made some afraid of speaking out.

For more on this story, click here. And peruse some other stories from the week below.