Appropriate medical care
Parents of transgender children and hospitals are being targeted for giving appropriate medical care. When my daughter told me she was a girl, I had a lot of mixed feelings. I wanted to support her but I was also scared. When she was born, the doctor assumed she was a boy based on her body. Her gender identity is different from her sex assigned at birth. This is a private medical diagnosis and story that is hers alone to share. I have permission from her to just give this detail alone. The rest is her story and my blog is about having a transgender child.
I support families who need to get their children appropriate & necessary medical care for any treatment. Parents will do everything possible to protect their child’s life including going to the best doctors and getting appropriate medical care. It’s very difficult having a transgender child because there are medical interventions that are necessary for their mental health. I feel so lucky that we are living in a time when we can intervene for our children but there are those that are stopping access for these kids.
Medical reality is can be complicated for parents with transgender children. The parents need to live close to a doctor who they can afford. Before they can make an appointment, they need to see an accepting mental health specialist who is willing to write a letter that their child is transgender. They need to see this practitioner to ask for a letter before being able to make an appointment with the doctor.
Blockers are a medicine that will help the child stop the wrong gender characteristics from taking effect in their body. This is a puberty pause button and can only be prescribed by a doctor. This is a temporary way to stop biological puberty from happening and can be stopped to let the child’s natural puberty continue. This has been used for years with children who have precocious puberty and doctors are trained on this in medical school.
Getting this medicine includes a therapist, a doctor and a surgeon. This is only possible with access to a doctor, insurance and ability to pay. Politicians want to stop the ability of parents from giving their child necessary & appropriate medical care. They want to make this illegal. I support my children’s mental health and if my daughter started to have her voice deepen, get hair on her face, or have her facial features look more masculine, this will affect her life expectancy.
When transgender kids have support, their mental health is like their cisgender peers. Without that support from at least one adult, their mental health is in serious danger and suicide attempts are more common. Parents who have transgender kids need your support. You would never have the audacity to look at parents of children with any other medical condition and tell them that they can’t get life saving medical care. You would never attack hospitals that are trying to follow medical protocol. I implore you to think about your child, grandchild, nephew or niece. Wouldn’t you do anything you can to protect their life? My child’s life should not be used as a pawn in a politician’s game. Politicians should not be able to stop me from saving my child’s life by providing her with appropriate and necessary medical care.