Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Have there been any studies about elderly trans people with dementia?

56 replies

GreatFox · 17/01/2026 18:19

I am currently dealing with dementia in my personal life.

So many people with dementia revert back to childhood emotionally and withing their own version of reality. We are told the best thing to do is go along with this as correcting them can be upsetting (ie telling them their mums have passed away 30 years ago)

I was wondering if its known if Trans people go back to thinking they are their biological sex if they have dementia? As they most probably would have lived their childhoods as thei biosex.

And if they become confused/distressed if they have had gender reassignment surgery?

OP posts:
inkymoose · 18/01/2026 00:45

ThatZanyFatball · 17/01/2026 23:34

Like the thing about if a tree falls and nobody is there, does it make a sound? (Obviously it does, because, you know, physics)

Sidenote: Actually that's not true technically there a 3 parts to needed to make a complete sound:

  1. Source: AKA what makes the sound (the tree)

  2. Medium: AKA the particles on which a sound wave is transmitted, as sound waves cannot travel in a vacuum. (the forest, but really in essence all the particles the forest is made of)

  3. Receiver: AKA something to translate the sound waves into a sound, like how a human ear is designed to receive sound waves and then sends a signal to the brain interpreting what the "sound" actually is.

So, no one there means the sound waves are never received therefore never converted into a complete sound.

Your third point is not correct.
The sound is made because the tree falls, perhaps the trunk cracks with a loud crack or the branches crash into the forest floor. The swift movement of the tree would also create some air disturbance, a rushing sound.
There are many other creatures who can hear. Bird have very good hearing, for instance. Some creatures would feel the vibrations. The sound would probably travel some distance. Just because there wasn't a human in the vicinity doesn't mean the sound was incomplete.

ahagwearsapointybonnet · 18/01/2026 00:45

NotBadConsidering · 17/01/2026 21:04

I wonder why the guide has disappeared?

Probably because it undermines the narrative that gender identity is innate and fixed.

It’s a hard thing to study because decades of hormone treatments mean trans people are much more likely to die young of other health matters before they have a chance to develop dementia.

That depends - there has been some speculation (not sure about research) that taking blockers/hormones may actually increase the risk of dementia and/or lead to an earlier onset, I believe... So worst case we may see a lot of relatively young patients with dementia and distress at their modified bodies 😟

Ereshkigalangcleg · 18/01/2026 01:01

Yes I recall that too @ahagwearsapointybonnet

Tadpolesinponds · 18/01/2026 01:08

PermanentTemporary · 18/01/2026 00:04

Interesting links that have introduced me to the work of researcher Alexandra Baril and the idea of ‘cogniticism’ which seems to be the assumption that decisions made by your pre-dementia unimpaired self should not be considered more important than the decisions made by your self with dementia. I’m guessing this has particular resonance in Canada because of legal Medical Assistance in Dying - I don’t know what the status of people with dementia is there wrt that, I assume they’re not considered able to consent. I don’t know if an advanced decision to refuse treatment if you have dementia would be valid once you’ve lost capacity.

I wonder if we could find common ground by referring to transition as cognitively grounded - and if you lose areas of cognition, the need to transition may end.

In Canada it's possible to give consent to euthanasia in early dementia (when not yet too cognitively impaired). And it's possible to waive giving final consent immediately before euthanasia happens (which is the standard requirement). So if you are diagnosed with dementia and expect to die from it (which is presumably always the case if something else doesn't kill you first?) then you can pick the date of your euthanasia. If you lose cognition before that date, the doctor can kill you early.

ThatZanyFatball · 18/01/2026 01:47

inkymoose · 18/01/2026 00:45

Your third point is not correct.
The sound is made because the tree falls, perhaps the trunk cracks with a loud crack or the branches crash into the forest floor. The swift movement of the tree would also create some air disturbance, a rushing sound.
There are many other creatures who can hear. Bird have very good hearing, for instance. Some creatures would feel the vibrations. The sound would probably travel some distance. Just because there wasn't a human in the vicinity doesn't mean the sound was incomplete.

Ah but the riddle isn't no human the riddle is no "one." The crack, the air whooshig all create sound waves but if there is no being with the ability to receive and interpret a sound wave, a complete sound has not been formed. Vibrations are vibrations not sound.

porridgecake · 18/01/2026 03:07

Elaine Miller talks about this, along with all the other debilitating health issues related to transitioning.

Ritasueandbobtoo9 · 18/01/2026 03:55

People with Dementia can revert to a point in time. I know one man who started dressing as a woman in middle age, no surgery or drugs, who became quite confused by this as his dementia progressed so reverted to wearing men’s clothes.

Yetanotherstudent · 18/01/2026 05:39

Surely anyone who reverts to their childhood in the throes of dementia is going to be disturbed by their own bodies? Not recognising their old wrinkly skin, lack of teeth, post-pubertal bodies etc…The hellscape of dementia is no picnic for any human - trans or otherwise. I remember the 80 year old woman at my mothers ‘care’ home who constantly called out for her mother while curled up in a foetal position in her chair. I am eternally shamed that my mother ended up in such a place but I could not cope with her or have the money to look after her at home.

Do you have a particular interest in dementia in the trans community for a personal reason OP or is it just curiosity? As with most things in old age, isolation is a major factor - all our tribes fade away - I doubt there will be many Pride or Trans flags flying in your old people’s homes. The union jacks will be out for all occasions though.

BillieWiper · 18/01/2026 11:19

ThatZanyFatball · 17/01/2026 23:34

Like the thing about if a tree falls and nobody is there, does it make a sound? (Obviously it does, because, you know, physics)

Sidenote: Actually that's not true technically there a 3 parts to needed to make a complete sound:

  1. Source: AKA what makes the sound (the tree)

  2. Medium: AKA the particles on which a sound wave is transmitted, as sound waves cannot travel in a vacuum. (the forest, but really in essence all the particles the forest is made of)

  3. Receiver: AKA something to translate the sound waves into a sound, like how a human ear is designed to receive sound waves and then sends a signal to the brain interpreting what the "sound" actually is.

So, no one there means the sound waves are never received therefore never converted into a complete sound.

Interesting. So a 'sound' has to be heard by a living being to constitute itself existing as such. Otherwise it's just a vibration of particles?

Like if a radio is on but the volume turned down to zero, the radio is not actually making a sound though it's emitting sound particles/waves?

I guess it's like a push. If a human pushes the air, it's not really a 'push' until an object or person that's visible is touched/moved?!

This is strangely fascinating to me now. Though veering further away from trans dementia sufferers...

Secretseverywhere · 18/01/2026 11:44

Tadpolesinponds · 18/01/2026 01:08

In Canada it's possible to give consent to euthanasia in early dementia (when not yet too cognitively impaired). And it's possible to waive giving final consent immediately before euthanasia happens (which is the standard requirement). So if you are diagnosed with dementia and expect to die from it (which is presumably always the case if something else doesn't kill you first?) then you can pick the date of your euthanasia. If you lose cognition before that date, the doctor can kill you early.

I’d be in favour of this, they have it in Netherlands too. It’s such a cruel disease, I do think it’s a kindness to give people an option.

Ritasueandbobtoo9 · 18/01/2026 11:56

The Welsh Government think that research into trans people is ‘desperately’ needed, however I think that they should focus on waiting lists and social care rather than the teeny tiny trans minority who will present uniquely so making any study questionable!

Chariothorses · 18/01/2026 12:13

The Children of Transitioners all have a parent who says they are trans, and have linked to some useful info re dementia for elderly transpeople on their website- see here.
https://childrenoftransitioners.org/our-moral-obligation-to-the-truth/

If you look elsewhere on their website/ x account, they have also written about the distress caused to everyone - staff, family and patient- by the inflexibility/ trans ideological capture of health organisations/NHS by TRA groups. eg distress caused by medical staff who must refer to these same dementia ridden dads as women -when the patient as well as their family knows they are men and can't remember anything else. (eg when dads who had their penis removed when they were younger after fathering children, forget they ever ID'd as women- maybe sexual paraphilias like AGP become less dominant in men in old age anyway?)

And NHS staff who won't listen to their patient's adult children (who are left supporting their trans parent , like most adult children of dementia patients) when they request a bit more kindness and less ideological trans stuffing- down the -throat..

NHS staff need to be less committed to trans ideology and stop writing policy according to TRA groups whose main concern is grift and power, not caring for the vulnerable people whose lives and families they wreck.

The Children of Transitioners have also written about how some children of transpeople have had to deal with the NHS bereavement teams lying their 'mother' has died when it is a father, causing further distress at an already distressing time. ...as a result demonstrating the NHS's total ignorance/ lack of respect of UK law which confirms- in both the original GRA itself and UK Supreme Court and ECHR decisions more recently- that transparents don't change parental reality ie a dad is always a dad, and a mother is always a mother, whatever their GRC status. Link to legal judgements here:
https://childrenoftransitioners.org/paperwork/

childrenoftransitioners.org/six-children/

Paperwork – Childrenoftransitioners.org

https://childrenoftransitioners.org/paperwork/

OttersMayHaveShifted · 18/01/2026 12:19

It does sit rather at odds with the insistence of many trans people that they've always known from a very young age that they were the sex/gender that they identify as.

I'm not sure about that. If a transwoman spent their whole childhood living as a boy and being treated as a boy (even if he felt he was meant to be a girl), I imagine that it could still cause confusion and distress in old age with dementia, especially if he had regressed to old memory of himself.

heathspeedwell · 18/01/2026 12:20

@Chariothorses that's really interesting, thank you. As if caring for an elderly parent isn't hard enough without the NHS making it even more painful.

Chariothorses · 18/01/2026 12:29

@GreatFox A child of a transperson (I think in Aussie?) on x has written about her experience of her dad's dementia and care . Many men who ID as women don't have any genital surgery, but her dad did. When he got dementia he was very distressed at his penis having gone and had no memory of why- which caused anger and distress to him, but the staff kept referring to him as a woman.

My grandmother had dementia- she forgot so much, but she always recognised men and women, and didn't want male carers. Maybe recognising biological sex (of yourself and others) is a basic integral human reality thing that never changes?

GreatFox · 18/01/2026 12:37

This seems like just another painful chapter of what seems to be a great social tragedy unfolding :(

OP posts:
BillieWiper · 18/01/2026 16:58

inkymoose · 18/01/2026 00:45

Your third point is not correct.
The sound is made because the tree falls, perhaps the trunk cracks with a loud crack or the branches crash into the forest floor. The swift movement of the tree would also create some air disturbance, a rushing sound.
There are many other creatures who can hear. Bird have very good hearing, for instance. Some creatures would feel the vibrations. The sound would probably travel some distance. Just because there wasn't a human in the vicinity doesn't mean the sound was incomplete.

Yeah I thought that. But if any living being could hear it? Like a squirrel or whatever so it's only not a sound of nobody with ears is nearby? I'm confused now, haha x

BillieWiper · 18/01/2026 16:59

ThatZanyFatball · 18/01/2026 01:47

Ah but the riddle isn't no human the riddle is no "one." The crack, the air whooshig all create sound waves but if there is no being with the ability to receive and interpret a sound wave, a complete sound has not been formed. Vibrations are vibrations not sound.

But there are lots of sounds that aren't audible to human ears?

IwantToRetire · 18/01/2026 19:17

Chariothorses · 18/01/2026 12:13

The Children of Transitioners all have a parent who says they are trans, and have linked to some useful info re dementia for elderly transpeople on their website- see here.
https://childrenoftransitioners.org/our-moral-obligation-to-the-truth/

If you look elsewhere on their website/ x account, they have also written about the distress caused to everyone - staff, family and patient- by the inflexibility/ trans ideological capture of health organisations/NHS by TRA groups. eg distress caused by medical staff who must refer to these same dementia ridden dads as women -when the patient as well as their family knows they are men and can't remember anything else. (eg when dads who had their penis removed when they were younger after fathering children, forget they ever ID'd as women- maybe sexual paraphilias like AGP become less dominant in men in old age anyway?)

And NHS staff who won't listen to their patient's adult children (who are left supporting their trans parent , like most adult children of dementia patients) when they request a bit more kindness and less ideological trans stuffing- down the -throat..

NHS staff need to be less committed to trans ideology and stop writing policy according to TRA groups whose main concern is grift and power, not caring for the vulnerable people whose lives and families they wreck.

The Children of Transitioners have also written about how some children of transpeople have had to deal with the NHS bereavement teams lying their 'mother' has died when it is a father, causing further distress at an already distressing time. ...as a result demonstrating the NHS's total ignorance/ lack of respect of UK law which confirms- in both the original GRA itself and UK Supreme Court and ECHR decisions more recently- that transparents don't change parental reality ie a dad is always a dad, and a mother is always a mother, whatever their GRC status. Link to legal judgements here:
https://childrenoftransitioners.org/paperwork/

childrenoftransitioners.org/six-children/

This is what I started thinking about. For instance quite a lot of money has gone into shared ownership schemes for older member of the LGBTQI+ (whatever) community.

And I started having terrible visions of some keen young TRA volunteering there and resolutely preaching the TRA line to someone whose mind is now remembering an earlier period of their life when they knew the sex they were born.

IwantToRetire · 18/01/2026 19:22

I think the reference to a tree falling in a forest and not being heard doesn't address the situation we have.

That is is the external messages from friends, family and inflationary praise from both MSM and SM that is the problem.

And once someone who is for whatever reason is no longer emotionally, or mentally vulnerable to false, current fashion messages, it ceases to have any reality.

ie its not the tree falling being unheard, it is that all the surrounding trees that were inundating a vulnerable person with fantasy solutions, aren't of any importance.

inkymoose · 18/01/2026 19:37

IwantToRetire · 18/01/2026 19:22

I think the reference to a tree falling in a forest and not being heard doesn't address the situation we have.

That is is the external messages from friends, family and inflationary praise from both MSM and SM that is the problem.

And once someone who is for whatever reason is no longer emotionally, or mentally vulnerable to false, current fashion messages, it ceases to have any reality.

ie its not the tree falling being unheard, it is that all the surrounding trees that were inundating a vulnerable person with fantasy solutions, aren't of any importance.

That is a very good analogy, thank you.

I also agree with @GreatFox that we are witnessing a chapter of a great social tragedy unfolding Flowers

helpfulperson · 18/01/2026 19:45

Yetanotherstudent · 18/01/2026 05:39

Surely anyone who reverts to their childhood in the throes of dementia is going to be disturbed by their own bodies? Not recognising their old wrinkly skin, lack of teeth, post-pubertal bodies etc…The hellscape of dementia is no picnic for any human - trans or otherwise. I remember the 80 year old woman at my mothers ‘care’ home who constantly called out for her mother while curled up in a foetal position in her chair. I am eternally shamed that my mother ended up in such a place but I could not cope with her or have the money to look after her at home.

Do you have a particular interest in dementia in the trans community for a personal reason OP or is it just curiosity? As with most things in old age, isolation is a major factor - all our tribes fade away - I doubt there will be many Pride or Trans flags flying in your old people’s homes. The union jacks will be out for all occasions though.

This is why care homes dealing with dementia patients rarely have mirrors, because they don't recognise the old person as themselves.

Needmoresleep · 18/01/2026 20:27

Not dementia, but Rene Jax who, I think, transitioned in the 1960s and was California's fist transgender cop wrote a book about a decade ago:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dont-get-plane-change-will/dp/1548007366

She (I will give her that as she has since been honest and open in her regret) had to give up hormones because of the damage they were doing to her body. There is quite a moving talk somewhere on t'internet. A warning that should be heeded. And presumably the earlier you start the more chance of damage.

Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.co.uk

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dont-get-plane-change-will/dp/1548007366?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-womens-rights-5477247-have-there-been-any-studies-about-elderly-trans-people-with-dementia

TempestTost · 18/01/2026 21:16

I knew a man who transitioned in his 40s and lived to be quite elderly, and had dementia in his final years.

As far as I heard there weren't any major issues about the transition, although he did end up believing he was still in the navy which would have been earlier in his life. But he all round seemed to have a happy disposition including throughout his decline, as opposed to the distress many people feel. SO that may have made a differernce all round.

ThatZanyFatball · 19/01/2026 14:32

BillieWiper · 18/01/2026 16:59

But there are lots of sounds that aren't audible to human ears?

Receptor doesn't have to be human it can be anything with the capacity to hear. If there is no "one" (including any and all living creatures) in the forest there is nothing to receive the sound waves created by the tree falling. A tree falling makes sound waves, ears and brain synapses (human or otherwise) turn sound waves into sounds.

Swipe left for the next trending thread