“Who gets to decide when a 14-year-old wants to change gender?” – a Letter to the Editor of the National Post
The weekend National Post included a two-page article titled, “Who gets to decide when a 14-year-old wants to change gender?” The story is of a 14-year old female who wants to transition to becoming a male. Max’s parents are not on the same page and the article delves into the legal framework in our country surrounding the ability of minors to make their own health care decisions. Reading it leaves a feeling of sadness for Max. Gender dysphoria is a real medical condition, but what is lacking is a proper and loving response – from parents and doctors alike.
Responding to the article, Dr. Susan Piccinin published a letter to the editor in Tuesday’s paper. She is clearly in favour of gender transitioning, even for minors without their parent’s consent. She compares birth control to gender reassignment hormones – if minors can access birth control, they should also be able to decide to transition from one gender to another. But she misses a crucial difference between the two: when puberty blockers (chemicals that artificially delay the onset of puberty) are combined with synthetic opposite-sex hormones, the result is a 95% likelihood of sterility. This means that kids are robbed of ever having their own children because this unproven ideology blindly accepts that we can separate our internal struggles from biological fact.
Sexual organs and chromosomal makeup are not a social construct. Biological sex is not some arbitrary assignment given by a doctor at birth. Already in infancy there are approximately 15 billion cells in the body, each of which indicate whether we are male or female. By the time we reach adulthood that number of cells reaches 73 trillion – each one identifying us as male or female.
God, the creator of each one of us, values our bodies, not just our souls. He created us as physical creatures with two distinct sexes. We never question this in any other species, and there is no reason to do so for human beings either. Transgender ideology is a social experiment that tries to tell us that it’s liberating to separate body from soul. The reality is, when we attempt to separate them there will be turmoil.
Those who experience gender dysphoria experience much pain. These kids need our love and support, and professional help to understand underlying causes of their dysphoria. But by encouraging children to undergo irreversible surgeries and chemical alterations to the body based on the feelings they are experiencing during puberty, doctors, parents, governments, and schools are doing a horrific disservice to these children. Attempts at gender reassignment are not in the best interests of children who experience gender dysphoria. The solution endorsed by Dr. Piccinin is not a loving option and is literally mutilating kids.
