Revealing New Study on Transgender Youth

A new study published in the journal Pediatrics found that 94% of transgender youth who had socially transitioned —adopting the name, pronouns, clothing, and haircuts that match their gender identity — continued to identify as transgender five years later. Dr. Kerry Kennedy Meltzer, an internal medicine resident at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, wrote about the study for ABC News, where she is a contributing writer for the medical unit.

With several states enacting legislation to restrict gender-affirming medical care for youth, Dr. Meltzer felt that this new study was an important one to highlight. For the piece, she interviewed Dr. Kristina Olson, a professor of psychology at Princeton University and first author on the paper, and pediatric endocrinologists across the country.

“The reason why I wanted to amplify this study is because legislators are citing old data saying that most kids who have experienced gender dysphoria will retransition,” she says. “This new study is showing that if you raise transgender youth in a supportive environment that allows them to express who they really are, that’s really not the case.”

Read her full story here.