The American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds) called on various organizations to "reconsider current protocols" for gender transition in children because they are based on studies that contain "methodological flaws" and "should never have been used in medical settings."
In a report, called The Myth of 'Reliable Research' in Pediatric Gender Medicine, a group of U.S. scientists expose how two Dutch studies , which formed the basis of the transgender industry in the country, failing “unacceptably” to meet modern research standards.
"The fraudulent foundation of pediatric transgender medicine"
Michelle Cretella, former executive director of ACPeds, explained that "the entire pediatric transgender industry is based on these two Dutch studies." She highlighted the importance and how "fundamental" the U.S. report is, as it "exposes the fraudulent foundation of pediatric transgender medicine in the United States."
She further noted that "Billionaire elites promote trans ideology over truth across all public institutions and media platforms," because "trans interventions are big money," and it is a way to e impose influence upon the population.
Major flaws in the study
The U.S. researchers claimed the Dutch studies (from 2011 and 2014) contain "methodological biases" and were "uncontrolled,” which nullifies the results obtained. The author of the new report exposing the flaws in the Dutch studies, Stephen B. Levine, stated:
We had no bias, we are just responding to and trying to articulate the limitations of the studies. We are doing harm to an unknown percentage of kids, and the data that is supportive of this work does not really address the issue. The real issue here is what happens to these children when they get into their 20s and 30s.
Levine added that young people who have undergone hormonal and surgical transition have major obstacles to their happiness and productivity later in life.
The three main methodological flaws exposed by Levine and his team are as follows: the limited number of participants, the misconception that gender affirmation is a cure for gender dysphoria, and the under-examination of the risks of sex change surgeries.
- The authors of the study recorded only the cases with the best results.
- They concluded, without evidence, that gender dysphoria was cured only if young people were medicated with puberty blockers and called it "gender dysphoria resolution."
- They did not adequately examine the risks of surgical interventions, which triggered "disastrous" effects.
Levine states that the initial research had 196 participants, and 70 participants remained in the protocol. Of these, only 55 completed the process. Furthermore, "The Dutch study researchers only took healthy kids from supportive and reasonably healthy families." He also stated that "after people have sex reassignment surgeries … they want more surgeries.” He continued: “It’s very clear they have continued gender dysphoria. The idea that they are being ‘cured’ by affirmative care is an artifact, it’s a myth."
“Low-quality research”
The studies influenced the creation of a global movement called "gender-affirming care." They touted the great success of medical intervention of sexual transition in young people. This resulted in hormone experimentation and, in some cases, irreversible mutilations in adolescents:
Had these studies been published today, the research would have been recognized as of very low quality and would not have encouraged the use of puberty blockers, wrong sex hormones and surgery in confused children and young adults in general medicine.
The scientists highlighted "the significant risk of harm exposed by the Dutch research" and concluded that it has an impact on an increase in young people with psychiatric problems:
We discuss the significant risk of harm exposed by the Dutch research, as well as the lack of applicability of the Dutch protocol to the currently increasing incidence of youth with psychiatric problems.
Levine criticizes that although it was known that the Dutch studies had selection bias and multiple uncontrolled variables, they were widely applied in the US and "the world took this as scientific evidence" and no attention was paid to the cultural, interpersonal, psychological and developmental factors of each population:
The Dutch study researchers only took healthy kids from supportive and reasonably healthy families. … They carefully screened kids, so if they had major developmental problems they were not included in the studies. But in the U.S. … the vast majority of these kids have a history of psychiatric issues before they developed gender dysphoria. The Dutch rejected these kids from their research.
