A leading expert in gender dysphoria says that four of five children who are confused about their gender grow out of it as they get into the teens.
Dr. Riittakerttu Kaltiala, who is the chief psychiatrist at Tampere University, Finland’s largest pediatric gender clinic, recently noted as much in an interview with the country’s leading newspaper, where she discussed her hesitation to recommend surgical and chemical sex change services for minors who are claiming to be transgender, the Daily Wire reported.
She explained that while it is “important to accept the child as they are,” she says it’s also vital to recognize that it’s not uncommon for kids to strongly identify with the opposite sex at one point in their young lives. But, she continued, four of our five who do identify with the opposite gender grow out of that when they enter puberty.
“That’s why it’s wise to monitor the situation, give the child peace of mind and treat the family’s anxiety and possible related problems,” said Kaltiala.
The Daily Wire continued:
Finland is considering a gender self-ID law for adults, and Seta, a transgender activist group, is pushing for the law to apply to minors. Dr. Kaltiala, who has evaluated hundreds of children and adolescents experiencing gender confusion, argues that the age limit should not be lowered.
Dr. Kaltiala said it is common for young people to experiment with “different identities” and be “prone to suggestion.” She believes that in adolescence, the construction of identity is just underway and the final outcome is not known.
According to Dr. Kaltiala, changing a legal sex marker in youth is not a simple formality, but a strong psychological and social intervention that guides the development of a young person. She said that this kind of intervention sends the message that this is the “right path” for the young person.
The expert noted further that when she first began her work, “gender identity” cases were among children and youngsters were rare. But, she added, since 2015, that figure has exploded (likely because it became trendy), while the profile of the patient population changed as well.
Previously, she noted, most of her patients were young boys but now the majority are biological girls in their teen years. Also, three of four patients are also dealing with significant mental health issues.
In September, three previously trans young people who have detransitioned phoned into a school board meeting in California to share their experiences with “gender-affirming care” and to push back on the district’s support for transgender ideology.
The Daily Wire reported that on Tuesday, Chloe Cole, Abel Garcia, and Cat Cattinson called the Conejo Valley Unified School District’s (CVUSD) Board of Education during the meeting’s public comment period to voice their opposition to the pushing of trans ideology which, they said, led them to believe they were transgender and pursue permanent life-altering medical transition procedures.
“I’m calling because I’m concerned about the messaging directed at kids by the school surrounding gender identity ideology,” said Cattinson, a 30-year-old molecular biologist and a detransitioned woman who thought she was a boy after being introduced to gender ideology at age 13.
“I began identifying as the opposite sex, a man, and [that belief] negatively affected me for the next fifteen years,” Cattinson added. “Puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries are irreversible.
“By affirming a child’s cross-sex identification, they are encouraged to reject their biological sex, seeking drugs and surgeries that destroy the function of healthy body parts. I think that instead, we need to tell kids they don’t need to change themselves to be themselves,” she added.
