Dear Pediatrician
Dear XXXX,
We have been coming to your practice for almost 19 years and have always been pleased with the care you have shown our two kids.
Our most recent appointment was quite a shock to me, however. Our son is sixteen and autistic. He has also had numerous surgeries almost since birth. XXX is a kid who has always struggled to fit in with his peers, most likely due to his autism. He began toying with the idea he might be transgender around his15th birthday and in a matter of weeks he became convinced that this was the answer to why he struggles. If you are familiar with autistic thinking, it is often very black and white.
We found him a therapist who focusses on his autism and works on his social skills. This seems to be helping him feel better overall. We are trying to get him to stop obsessing about his feelings and instead do things that make him happy such as music, cooking etc.
This brings me to his appointment April 10th at the XXXX office. After almost an hour with the doctor, he came out with a sheaf of information on the gender clinic. I am shocked and truly appalled that there is so much capture of the medical profession, our schools and the general population by the transgender ideology. I understand that the AAP approach is to treat our kids as though this is normal but I have to ask each one of the doctors in your office, “Do you, in your hearts believe this is normal? What does your conscience tell you? Do you feel this is in line with your hippocratic oath to go along with this? Transgender ideology is often compared with Anorexia Nervosa in the sense that you would not accept as normal, a skinny child telling you they are fat. So why would you accept a child telling you they were born in the wrong body? Especially, knowing what you all surely know about the effects of cross sex hormones on a kid’s body. I imagine at least some of you must know that surgeries are not without major health risks and in between hormones and surgeries, the kids who take these steps will likely be lifelong patients.
I will also add that the AAP is not above reproach. They are funded in part by the pharmaceutical industry and trans activists most certainly hold sway over this organization as well as others.
I am not placing the blame on your practice. I know this is widespread and not just in the US and Canada, although the UK, Sweden, Finland and Norway are among some of the European countries to have pulled back from these protocols. I am asking those of you who are disturbed by this to stand up to the AAP. Please speak out for these vulnerable kids who are being harmed. It is not kind to lie to kids about biology in order to avoid hurt feelings. Allowing kids to essentially self-diagnose seems deeply inappropriate and to go a step further and coach them on steps to take towards medicalization, goes even further over the line. Please ask yourselves if this is truly acceptable to you as pediatricians. If we are silent in the face of this, both parents and doctors, we will be complicit.
I would hope that any future appointments with our son would be conducted with the usual compassion while bearing in mind, what I have told you in this letter.
Thank you,
XXXX