Questions To Challenge Affirming Care
Written By Bel Heaton
These questions are designed to give people pause, avoid ideological arguments, and start conversations about all the things we don’t know about Gender Affirming Care.
Use them with doctors, family, regulators, Members of Parliament, anyone you like.
Rigorous data on patients and their outcomes is unavailable. Without meaningful data, can we be sure that Gender Affirming care is safe and effective?
If just one person has been harmed by this model of care, how do you think we should help them and prevent re-occurrences?
Australia doesn’t have government commissioned, or well endorsed treatment guidelines for gender dysphoria. Should we?
Multiple Australian health bodies and many clinicians have cautioned against Gender Affirming Care. Should we be proceeding with these treatments in the face of so many questions?
Do you know that there are alternative models of treatment (Like Therapy First?)? If so, what do you think of them?
Gender dysphoria/incongruence/gender identity have no measurable, empirical basis upon which doctors can justify the transition treatments they perform. Do you think this ambiguity could limit medical accountability?
How do you think gender care providers are able to know if they’ve diagnosed a patient correctly?
Current treatment guidelines say that patients are the ‘final authority on their own gender.’ Do you think it’s appropriate to rely on the self-assessment of patients, including minors?
Under the Informed Consent guidelines, it’s not essential for patients to consult with a gender specialist or a mental health specialist where not indicated:
Is this in line with community expectations for medical care?
The guidelines say specialist consultations are not required ‘where not indicated’, but how can non-specialist care providers know if their patients require specialist gender or medical health assessments, without having specialist expertise themselves?
Do you think a child can reasonably give informed consent to a medical procedure that may leave them infertile or lacking in normal sexual function?
There are high rates of mental health comorbidities, neurodivergence, and same-sex attraction among patients who present at gender clinics. The current guidelines don’t recommend a thorough psychological evaluation for all patients. Should they?
Does it concern you that doctors are saying they feel pressure to affirm their patients?
If it’s actually the case that doctors are allowed to refuse to affirm patients, why do you think guidelines haven’t been updated to clear up this confusion?
It’s common for advocates to say that gender dysphoria/incongruence aren’t illnesses. They also say that not all trans people experience dysphoria. Considering that many people in the general population do not look as masculine or feminine as they would like, what is the basis for providing cosmetic surgery and hormonal treatments to this one group of people, which includes many minors?
Which of these statements do you agree with more?
A. If a boy likes playing with dolls, that's totally ok. Both boys and girls can express themselves in a wide range of ways.
B. If a boy likes playing with dolls, he's a girl.