Sex Change Operations for Kids?

By Pamela Mortimer

Boston’s Children’s Hospital has long been thought of as the hospital for children. However, the hospital has recently come under fire for opening a new clinic that offers sex changes for kids, some as young as seven years old. Many critics have referred to the new service as "barbaric".

The clinic, operated by pediatric specialist Dr. Norman Spack, is focused on treating transgendered kids – children who believe they were born the wrong sex and want to change in order to feel "normal".

As part of the therapy, Spack offers young patients counseling and drugs that will delay the onset of puberty. The prescribed drugs will prevent the natural flood of hormones that would drastically reduce the patient’s chances of having a successful sex change later in life. The disadvantage of the therapy is that it forces patients to make a choice, perhaps before they are ready to do so.

Teenagers may also be offered hormone therapy, a process in which the patients experience drastic changes in the way they develop. Hormone therapy can be discontinued but may result in long-term effects, including permanent infertility.

Some potential patients believe the trade-off is worth the risk. Supporters of the procedure point out transgendered children tend to be deeply troubled and have a high level of suicide attempts. "I’ve never seen any patient make [a suicide attempt] after they’ve started hormonal treatment," Spack said.

Naturally, not all doctors are convinced that the treatment is safe or effective and some believe the treatments will do more harm than good.

"Treating these children with hormones does considerable harm and it compounds their confusion," said Dr. Paul McHugh, University Distinguished Service Professor of Psychiatry at John Hopkins University. "Trying to delay puberty or change someone’s gender is a rejection of the lawfulness of nature."

Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, a legal charity affiliated with the Liberty University, stated that transgender disorder is a mental disorder, not a medical one. Therefore, it should be treated with behavior modification therapies, not hormones or surgical procedures.

"Just as you don’t give liposuction to an anorexic, you don’t do sexual reassignment surgery on men who think that they are women and vice versa," Staver said.

"At some point in childhood," McHugh said, "many children role play as the opposite sex, but it is a social, not a medical issue."