Can somebody please help me with this one? The following from the Telegraph (UK), discussues a "diagnosis" of a 12 year old:
Tim was diagnosed as a transsexual two years ago, when doctors and psychiatrists concluded that his claims to be "in the wrong body" were so deeply felt that he required treatment.
"Diagnosis"? I did not know that "transexual" was something akin to other more common things one thinks of when considering the word: diabetic, cancer, chest cold, etc. But, I’m sure it’s just me, being inconsiderate and bigoted. I’m sorry. I just didn’t know. Oh, and what of the "treatment" given for the "diagnosis"? Again, from the Telegraph:
The therapy involves artificially arresting male puberty, with a series of potent hormone injections before the administration of female hormones to initiate the development of features such as breasts.
It is common in the local newspapers to find stories about some unfortunate little boy or girl with cancer or some other life-threatening ailment. One reads of the efforts and courage by the child and parents to raise enough money to cover the expenses of such devestating events. And then you read about this– A twelve-year old boy that’s getting a sex change operation. What about his/her parents?
Her parents, who initially assumed their son was going through a temporary phase, eventually grew accustomed to seeing him as a girl..The family’s full identity has not been made public. But Kim’s father, known as Lutz P. – speaking to the German publications Der Spiegel and Stern – said that as a child, the boy liked to play with Barbie dolls, enjoyed wearing dresses and, from the age of two, insisted that he was a girl. "We saw Kim as a girl, but not as a problem. Our life was surprisingly normal.".Kim reacted badly to the first signs of puberty, he said. "At that stage we realised that she was terrified of growing facial hair and her voice breaking.".Kim’s parents consulted psychiatrists across Germany. Some condemned their support of their child’s desire to undergo a sex change, or suggested that Kim be kept under observation in a closed psychiatric ward. But others agreed that the child should receive therapy, because growing up to be a man would have damaged her personality.
As I said– I just never really knew about such matters. Silly me. Twelve years old. Damn…
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(H/T Drudge)