The New York Times published an article warning of the potential dangers of children undergoing so-called "gender-affirming care." The article cited several individuals who had detransitioned after realizing that puberty blockers and transition surgeries were not the cure-alls that doctors and transgender activists had advertised.

The New York Times published an opinion piece on Friday by writer Pamela Paul, titled: "As Kids, They Thought They Were Trans. They No Longer Do." The piece stands out from previous NYT articles because it reaches a far different conclusion regarding transitioning children with unproven procedures and drugs that may have hidden and life-altering consequences.

According to the op-ed, transgender activists have pushed "ideological extremism," which demonizes any opposition to children enduring potentially disruptive treatments for gender-oriented pursuits.

Paul noted, "Clinicians are expected to affirm a young person’s assertion of gender identity and even provide medical treatment before, or even without, exploring other possible sources of distress."

"Many who think there needs to be a more cautious approach — including well-meaning liberal parents, doctors, and people who have undergone gender transition and subsequently regretted their procedures — have been attacked as anti-trans and intimidated into silencing their concerns," Paul continued.

The article cited a recent study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior that pointed out that 39% of young detransititioners held the "belief that gender dysphoria was an expression of other problems."

The study also found that 55% "believed they had been inadequately evaluated, medically or psychologically, before they transitioned."

Paul pointed out, "Parents are routinely warned that to pursue any path outside of agreeing with a child’s self-declared gender identity is to put a gender dysphoric youth at risk for suicide, which feels to many people like emotional blackmail."

A parent of a gender-confused child told Paul about a meeting with a specialist, who allegedly said, "In front of my son, the therapist said, 'Do you want a dead son or a live daughter?'"

A February 2021 survey published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society determined that it "could not draw any conclusions about death by suicide."

The Wall Street Journal published an article citing 21 clinicians and researchers from nine countries that found there was "no reliable evidence to suggest that hormonal transition is an effective suicide prevention measure."

Research from the Australian Journal of Psychology published in 2021 stated, "Children with gender dysphoria often experience a range of psychiatric comorbidities, with a high prevalence of mood and anxiety disorders, trauma, eating disorders and autism spectrum conditions, suicidality and self-harm. It is vitally important to consider psychiatric comorbidities when prioritizing and sequencing treatments for children with gender dysphoria."

The New York Times interviewed multiple individuals who had weathered gender-focused treatments as children, but detransitioned after they had matured.

Grace Powell – who started cross-sex hormones and had a double mastectomy to transition in her senior year of high school – told the Times, "I wish there had been more open conversations. But I was told there is one cure and one thing to do if this is your problem, and this will help you."

Powell, 23, said none of the medical professionals asked about "reasons behind her gender dysphoria or her depression" or previous trauma during her medical or surgical transition. Powell revealed that she had been sexually abused as a child.

Powell admitted, "The process of transition didn’t make me feel better. It magnified what I found was wrong with myself."

"I expected it to change everything, but I was just me, with a slightly deeper voice," Powell confessed. "It took me two years to start detransitioning and living as Grace again.

The article from the left-leaning New York Times read, "As one detransitioned man, now in a gay relationship, put it, 'I was a gay man pumped up to look like a woman and dated a lesbian who was pumped up to look like a man. If that’s not conversion therapy, I don’t know what is.'"

The individual added that if she transitioned to a man, she could pursue relationships with women instead of being criticized for being a lesbian "dyke," and "not a real girl."

Paul Garcia-Ryan – now a 32-year-old homosexual psychotherapist who detransitioned at age 30 – said, "When a professional affirms a gender identity for a younger person, what they are doing is implementing a psychological intervention that narrows a person’s sense of self and closes off their options for considering what’s possible for them."

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