A paper published in the January 2023 issue of "Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy" is blowing up two Dutch studies from the late 1990s that became the justification used by the American medical establishment to treat young children with puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and – eventually – gender-mutilation surgery.
Titled "The Myth of 'Reliable Research' in Pediatric Gender Medicine," the paper contends that the two studies – known as the Dutch protocol – were "methodologically flawed and should have never been used as justification" for so-called gender transition. Nevertheless, says Dr. Quentin Van Meter of the American College of Pediatricians, that's exactly what has transpired over the last three decades, resulting in hundreds of thousands of vulnerable and confused young people being "swallowed up" by the system.
"Everybody who comes in the door [complaining of gender confusion] gets on treatment," he laments. "And then you find out that of the kids who get started on puberty blockers, essentially all but 2% proceed directly to cross-sex hormones."
It's like a "conveyor belt," says the Atlanta-based pediatric endocrinologist: "You walk in the door, it swallows you up, [then] spits you out the other end, sterile and medically insecure for the rest of your life. It cuts your entire life span down by 50%."
Citing two reasons, Van Meter predicts the paper debunking the Dutch protocol will likely be hidden, discounted, or ignored by the medical establishment: (1) because that "conveyor belt" brings in millions of dollars for "gender-transition clinics"; and (2) because the "transing" of America has become an obsession with activists.
"This has become a religious faith – a fanatical, religious faith … almost a cult," he adds.
But Van Meter offers another prediction: A whole new legal field will rise up to take that system down as a generation of permanently damaged and disfigured young people grow up to regret their misinformed choices and seek justice.
The trio of researchers who authored "The Myth of 'Reliable Research'" address related controversies surrounding gender transition in two other recent papers: "Reconsidering Informed Consent for Trans-Identified Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults" – and "What Are We Doing to These Children?"
