In the American Psychological Association's DSM, it states that most kids with gender dysphoria desist by late adolescence to early adulthood.

Treatment goes from ultra agressive Dutch Protocol (early hormone treatments at earliest time possible) to conservative "wait and see".

Historically, the "wait and see" has been done, but there is a contagion of kids wanting to be transgender in the last 2 years. Most likely due to the attention it has gotten, and pop stardom of Jazz.

I personally would go the conservative approach, no hormones (they could leave your child permanently sterile) and no puberty blockers (The hormones being blocked have been shown to increase the number of kids going on to take cross sex hormones and surgery later).

The percentage of kids who think they are trans, but later backtrack is very, very high. In fact, it is way more than half. Before doing anything that will cause permanent developmental changes that they will regret, I would go slow and careful.

Great article/interview from last year with an expert on transgender kids:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2017/03/09/civilities-some-skeptical-parents-brought-their-questions-to-a-national-expert-on-transgender-kids/?utm_term=.8a39ea79a881

Support, and love your child, and if you're unsure about things, ask them to explain it to you.

Who else is better to explain how they feel, than they themselves?

Anonymous wrote:My SIL is now my BIL, but along the way she went back and forth in her gender identity. She started hormones in her teens and then regretted it and lived as a girl again for a while. It could be a long journey and based on watching her experience, I would look into waiting on this until adulthood.

Sorry, should say his experience.

My SIL is now my BIL, but along the way she went back and forth in her gender identity. She started hormones in her teens and then regretted it and lived as a girl again for a while. It could be a long journey and based on watching her experience, I would look into waiting on this until adulthood.

Please post if you’re still reading. We have been through the same experience and I can give you our perspective.

I would urge you NOT to drug your child up with hormones. Find a good therapist that can help your child through this issue. If they feel the same way after they are of the age of consent, then they can begin treatments. If your kid threatens suicide if not allowed to transition via drug/hormone treatment, they need to be hospitalized. Many kids, once allowed to go through natural puberty, come to accept their biological gender. Giving kids hormones that alter their biology, render them sterile and can potentially cause cancer is nothing more than child abuse. If they are too young to vote, drink, drive or get tatoos or peircings, they are certainly too young to do something like this!

OP -- I would recommend Ann Adelman in DC. She has worked with kids like your daughter and knows her way around the block, but her practice is very diverse.
http://anneadelmanphd.com/

Anonymous wrote:This happened with my daughter a few years ago. It's scary stuff. Before you talk to a therapist, you need to read about what's going on with teens these days. There's an explosion - especially in teen girls - that press does not report. Also, most therapists practice the "affirmation" model, which means they will just agree with your teen's self-diagnosis. I URGE you to question this. I went along with the therapist and things got so much worse. I now realize, after buying the binder, supporting name change, etc. that my daughter is not transgender, but has a lot more deeper issues that she needs help with. I urge you to read 4thwavenow.com. There are many stories there just like mine - with very few happy endings.

I urge you to listen to your child. 4th Wave Now is a trans-exclusionary feminist site--- and if you child child is trans, affirming them could save their life.

I would contact Stacey Karpen, LCSW.

https://therapists.psychologytoday.com/rms/name/Stacey_L_Karpen_PhD,LPC,NCC_Washington_District+of+Columbia_257292

Ok -- look, these are tough issues . Fourth Wave seems as biased against believing there are any real trans kids as the professionals those parents criticize for reaffirming trans kids. I think each case is different, but here are a few basics to consider: 1) tell your freshman daughter there will be no medical treatments until she has been in therapy at least 6 months to a year; 2) i say this partly because I am assuming as a freshman she is alread pretty far into puberty - so puberty blockers -- which I know some 4th wave parents critique -- are probably not going to do much to help your child anyway at this point. So in a way, you are lucky you don't need to worry about them (although they can stop periods and your daughter may push for that at some point); 3) find a good therapist you and your child connect with. I agree with other posters that some therapists who focus on trans kids tend to just reaffirm and not challenge. But I have also seen the disaster of a therapist who doesn't understand trans issues and can't connect with a kid -that is at best a waste of time and money -- at worst will encourage a rebellious teen to take a firmer stance just to spite the therapist and you. To me, and key criteria is a very gifted therapist -- who can question to help a kid think about different angles without insisting one or the other, and help parental /child communication. But it does help for them to know something about the topic. 4) my trans child saw several therapists - the third we stuck with -- and as parents we interviewed some others too. I have never met one who will say "yes, your kid is trans" or "no, she is not." There is no medical or psychological test for this. 5) the poster above makes a good point about some girls feeling uncomfortable about their bodies changing, but to hat you and a therapist presumably do is look at all the evidence and patterns. It sounds like OP this isn't out of the blue for you.

Another thought. You will need a team of support. Besides the therapist, if your child persists at some point you will need an endocrinologist. At some point Interview these people -- yourself at first. You can tell your child you are gathering facts but you don't need to tell her now - first work on their therapist. If you ever go down that road of hormones, interview several doctors who have experience with female to male transitions. Before any cross hormone treatments, you need to talk about fertility -- testosterone over a long period may make your daughter sterile.
Over shorter periods it may be partially reversible. We don't have long term studies. These are heavy issues for a young teen to consider. And there are partial solutions these days --Egg harvesting. This is very invasive, involves months of injections of female hormones etc. And you will have to fight with your insurance company and may not get coverage. But the sequence is 1) therapy; if your DC is transgender and elects to go further with your consent , then 2) decide on fertility ; 3) decide on interventions (hormones, top surgery.)

No one wants to be trans -- but if you accept some people's bodies don't match their brain's gender and you need to explore other, it is a lot of necessary work.

We wish you and your child luck OP.

This happened with my daughter a few years ago. It's scary stuff. Before you talk to a therapist, you need to read about what's going on with teens these days. There's an explosion - especially in teen girls - that press does not report. Also, most therapists practice the "affirmation" model, which means they will just agree with your teen's self-diagnosis. I URGE you to question this. I went along with the therapist and things got so much worse. I now realize, after buying the binder, supporting name change, etc. that my daughter is not transgender, but has a lot more deeper issues that she needs help with. I urge you to read 4thwavenow.com. There are many stories there just like mine - with very few happy endings.

First of all, I do not know your child, I can not comment on the gender.

What I would do is get the child into therapy. If he is Trans, there is some adjustments to be made.

There is another possibility: she did not like the the attention she was receiving as a young woman, and is trying to not get the attention by not being a young woman. I do not know if that is the case, but we are going through something similar with our DD.

She does not like it when boys notices or comment on her feminine attributes, so she dresses exclusively in jeans and hoodies.

She is not sure of her sexuality, but is sure of her gender. I don't care. I want her to be happy.

Sorry, I misread your headline.

If the therapist thinks she's trans, maybe the therapist should be in therapy herself?

My 14 year old DD, high school freshman, asked me last night about hormone treatments. She's been wearing a binder and going by a less feminine first name.
Can anyone recommend a psychologist in the NOVA area who can help us determine what's really going on with her? I'm supportive but I don't want to subject her to medical treatments unless we are really sure this is a permanent need on her part.

Thank you for any referrals.