Gender activist doctor refuses to release taxpayer-funded study on effects of ‘gender-affirming care’

A doctor who promotes “gender-affirming” procedures for kids is refusing to publish a costly taxpayer-funded study on how they impact children’s mental health.

The study

In 2015, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) dispensed $5.7 million for a study on the psychological effects of “gender-affirming care” for kids, or what some health professionals call medical mutilation. The research team was led by Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy, a physician who strongly promotes medical mutilation procedures such as puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and sex reassignment surgery for children.

The study set out to determine whether these procedures benefit children psychologically. Ninety-five children across the country were recruited and administered puberty blockers. After two years, they were assessed to determine whether their mental health had improved or declined.

Refusal to publish

Nine years later, Olson-Kennedy has refused to publish the study. Although she claims she will do so eventually, she said she is withholding the data over concerns that the findings will be “weaponized.”

The physician told the New York Times there was no improvement in the mental health of the participants because they were in “good shape” before and after the study.

“They’re in really good shape when they come in, and they’re in really good shape after two years,” she said, though the Times pointed out that this contradicted earlier descriptions of the study. The research team had previously said that 15% of the participants were depressed or suicidal before receiving the puberty blockers.

What the research says

The study’s findings are significant because gender activists often justify their support for medical mutilation procedures by claiming they are necessary for children’s mental health. Published research, however, does not support this claim.

The Cass Review, the largest independent review on “gender-affirming care” to date, found no basis to conclude that medical mutilation helps boost a child’s mental health. The report cited studies showing that children and “trans” children have the same rate of suicidality and that mental health treatment, not puberty blockers, reduces suicides among children with gender confusion. Several studies found high rates of suicide among young people who were subjected to “gender-affirming care.” Further evidence suggests a positive correlation between medical mutilation procedures and suicide.

Dr. Hillary Cass, author of the Cass Review, urged Olson-Kennedy to publish the study. “It’s really important we get results out there so we understand whether it’s helpful or not, and for whom,” she said.

In addition to its psychological impact, medical mutilation is known to cause irreversible sterility and the loss of the ability to feel pleasure in sexual relations.