Transgender health org removes age limits for 'gender-affirming' treatment, surgery

EAST DUNDEE, Ill. (TND) — In the organization's latest recommendations regarding the treatment of transgender youth and adults, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) decided to remove age requirements for gender-affirming treatment and surgery.

WPATH, which consists of doctors from across the world who treat transgender patients, previously leaked a draft version of the organization's latest recommendations, which had not been updated in a decade.

In the leaked draft version, WPATH lowered the age at which it recommended hormone therapy could be safely started from 16 years old to 14 years old. The draft version of WPATH's guidelines also recommended that some sexual reassignment surgeries could begin at age 15 or 17, which was a year earlier than WPATH's previous guidance recommended.

READ MORE: "Group claims minors should be able to undergo gender transition at younger age"

But, in WPATH's latest guidelines (Standards of Care 8), the organization swapped the age limit threshold for one that relies on an individual's stage of puberty.

Specifically, WPATH's guidelines assert that the decision of whether an adolescent can safely begin cross-sex hormone treatment or puberty blockers depends on where the patient falls within the "Tanner stages of puberty," which were created by child development expert Professor James Tanner.

Once an adolescent has reached Tanner stage 2 of puberty, "pubertal suppression" can be initiated, according to WPATH's Standards of Care 8.

According to pediatric endocrinologistStephanie Roberts, Tanner Stage 2 "refers to the first stages of puberty," which can begin as early as 8 years old in girls and 9 years old in boys.

Similar to the guidelines pertaining to cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers, WPATH did not provide a hard-and-fast age recommendation for gender-reassignment surgeries either. But the guidelines did indicate certain gender-affirming surgeries, such as a vaginoplasty or double mastectomy, could be considered in minors.

However, phalloplasty procedures, which is the surgical creation of a penis, was not included among the surgeries WPATH says could be considered for minors.

"There may be a benefit for some adolescents to having these procedures performed before the age of 18," WPATH's guidelines stated. But the group concedes that given the "complexity and irreversibility of these procedures," it is imperative "to adhere to post-surgical care recommendations and to comprehend the long-term impacts of these procedures on reproductive and sexual function," and many adolescents may not be capable of doing this.

"WPATH is now run by people in the gender ideology industry, meaning they all have an enormous financial stake in making transition guidelines as relaxed as possible," conservative political commentator and filmmaker Matt Walsh tweeted. "And what do you know, each new set of guidelines becomes more relaxed and they all get personally richer."

The National Desk (TND) reached out to WPATH to learn more about its age recommendations for youth "gender-affirming care," but did not hear back. If a response is received, this story will be updated.