Newly translated guidelines from the Finnish Health Authority say that, “in light of available evidence,” the gender reassignment of children is to be considered an “experimental practice.” The guidelines also state that the first-line treatment for gender dysphoria should not be puberty blockers, but rather psychosocial support, psychotherapy, and treatment of comorbid psychiatric disorders.
The Finnish guidelines say that “cross-sex identification in childhood, even in extreme cases, generally disappears during puberty,” which it contrasts with the potential risks of puberty blockers such as “disruption in bone mineralization” and “the as yet unknown effects on the central nervous system.”
The Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine (SEGM), which translated the guidelines, says that the new Finnish guidelines reflect “growing international concern” about the number of adolescents presenting with gender dysphoria. They say there are now “significant questions” surrounding the “Dutch protocol” which activists have long sought to position as the best international practice.
Irish psychotherapist Stella O’Malley, who is currently an advisor to SEGM, told Gript that she welcomed Finland’s decisions to “provide a more holistic view of the gender dysphoric individual.” She said that the decision demonstrated that “the general trend towards gender health care appears to be applying more caution and better care.” O’Malley pointed toward the decision by the Karolinska Institute, “long considered a gold standard for health care for gender dysphoria,” to no longer recommend puberty blockers, and the recent Bell v Tavistock case which saw the usage of puberty blockers heavily curtailed, as other examples of this trend.
O’Malley said that she was “pleased that people are beginning to wake up to the many issues involved in allowing experimental treatment on children, treatment that can impair sexual development and cause infertility.”
The translated guidelines can be read HERE.