So no one came back with the research into just how many of the 5 friends in my teen’s group will persist as transmen for the rest of their life.
Yet, people continue to endorse that each one of those 5 using binders that are known to cause damage to their bodies rather than supporting them to be able to live with their bodies as they are.
So, if only 1 of those five persist to be trans for their entire life, the other four’s breast and chest health are just acceptable collateral? And their physical fitness too, which we are constantly told is useful for improving poor mental health. Is it more than 1? Will it be 2 out of the 5?
I am very happy to read whatever peer reviewed research anyone posts that will help to address this issue of just how many of this group of 5 will persist until reaching adulthood to get mastectomies (as one surgeon points out, so it won’t matter having damaged breasts). And even then, how many who have mastectomies who will persist their entire lives and not detransition.
Because, for all those who have downplayed the risks associated with binding, you are effectively enabling children to do this. This is not a ‘therapy’ that has little risk associated with it. And I have seen the web sites and listened to the peer to peer conversations. The negative health risks are completely down played. Every. Time.
These children are NOT getting full information about this. And now, the internet is so full of reinforcement that binding is apparently low risk, those making these decisions are reassured that only those bigots or uneducated are scaremongering.
And it is made worse because there is a significant issue at the moment with the reasons behind our girls declaring themselves as trans, is unconscionably under researched. With the true numbers unknown. We only see the numbers of referrals and they are lower than the numbers in the population who have no referrals at all. Just social transition.
Let’s not forget that those number are not covering the even larger cohort of non-binary females who are also encouraged to bind.
Ultimately, a large portion of these girls will retain their breasts and will subsequently reach adulthood with damaged bodies. They get to live with the knowledge that their breasts were considered acceptable collateral because the higher health risks for young females were deemed not important enough for GIDS and other organisations to thoroughly research when the trend was identified. Or was actively discouraged because the research was deemed transphobic. It was urgently needed to get a thorough understanding of what was happening psychologically and within society of this group.
And we as parents are being told we are ‘uneducated’. That we are expressing fake concern, or at the very least, ill-directed concern.
Well, while I am waiting for that research to be linked up on this thread, maybe one of the posters telling us that binding is not harmful, will tell us exactly how THEY explained to their 11/12/13/14/15 year old that the likelihood of them doing lasting damage to their bodies by wearing a binder is very high, but some groups in society think that is just acceptable collateral on the chance that they might be one of the small number that persist identifying as trans into adult hood.
And if they desist, well, the lasting legacy of damage to their body is a reminder that it was all their own decision.
Enabled by well meaning people …. and now LUSH.