The AP (1/6, Johnson) reports, “As U.S. lawmakers debate issues around health care for transgender youth, it’s been difficult to determine the number of young people receiving gender-affirming medications, leaving room for exaggerated and false claims.” Now, the AP says, “a medical journal has published the most reliable estimate yet and the numbers are low, reflecting more clearly on medical practices now being weighed by the U.S. Supreme Court.” The study found that “fewer than 1 in 1,000 U.S. adolescents with commercial insurance received gender-affirming medications – puberty blockers or hormones – during a recent five-year period.” The findings were published in JAMA Pediatrics.
NBC News (1/6, Lavietes ) reports the research, “which analyzed the private insurance claims for more than 5.1 million young patients ages 8 to 17 from 2018 to 2022, also found that no transgender patients under 12 were prescribed gender-affirming hormones.” Investigators “found that the use of puberty blockers and hormones was more common among trans minors who were assigned female sex at birth versus those assigned male at birth.”
Related Links:
— “Fewer than 1 in 1,000 US adolescents receive gender-affirming medications, researchers find,” Carla K. Johnson, Associated Press, January 7, 2025