(FamilyConservationPAC.com) – According to the New York Times, Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy, the director of the Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, has stated that she has not yet released the findings of a long-awaited study on puberty blockers for minors due to possible political backlash.

As part of a $9.7 million federal initiative on transgender youngsters, Olson-Kennedy started the study in 2015 by recruiting 95 kids from all over the United States and providing them with puberty blockers.

To determine how the medications affected the children’s mental health, researchers then monitored their development over two years.

In research conducted 25 years ago, known as the Dutch protocols, a small group of young people who reported gender dysphoria at an early age—primarily males who presented as girls—were treated with sex change therapy and puberty blockers.

This study served as the foundation for gender medicine in children worldwide. However, it was reexamined in 2023, and numerous serious faults were discovered.

Nevertheless, Olson-Kennedy told The Times that her research did not reach the same conclusions as those earlier studies, which were generally considered favorable at the time.

Olson-Kennedy said that her participants’ mental health did not improve as a result of puberty blockers and that this was probably because they were already doing well.

“They’re in really good shape when they come in, and they’re in really good shape after two years.”

The conclusion contrasts with a previous report of the group, which indicated higher levels of depression, suicidal ideation, or attempts. 

The findings may support “political attacks that have led to bans of the youth gender treatments in more than 20 states,” Olson-Kennedy said in response to a question about why the results have not been released, particularly at a time when the subject of sex changes for children is regularly in the news.

“I do not want our work to be weaponized,” she said. “It has to be exactly on point, clear and concise. And that takes time.”

She claimed the data would be released eventually. Still, the team has been behind schedule due to NIH funding cuts to the research, which she said were political in nature. The NIH refuted that.

Other academics voiced concerns about data suppression and the potential impact on families worldwide.

One of the study’s original researchers, Amy Tishelman, a clinical and research psychologist at Boston College, stated, “I understand the fear about it being weaponized, but it’s really important to get the science out there.”

She pointed out that the medications might have kept the kids’ mental health from deteriorating even if they did not result in any changes.

“No change isn’t necessarily a negative finding — there could be a preventative aspect to it,” she said. “We just don’t know without more investigation.”

In a progress report to the NIH in 2020, Olson-Kennedy hypothesized that the children would show “decreased symptoms of depression, anxiety, trauma symptoms, self-injury, and suicidality, and increased body esteem and quality of life over time.”

Olson-Kennedy said the study found that “they have good mental health on average. They’re not in any concerning ranges, either at the beginning or after two years.”

Due to research publication delays, the public has come to believe that puberty blockers are better for mental health, according to Dr. Hilary Cass, who released a study of juvenile gender services in England that resulted in the National Health Service in England ceasing to prescribe them to minors.

“It’s really important we get results out there so we understand whether it’s helpful or not, and for whom,” Dr. Cass said.

In a recent post on the International Transgender Health Facebook group, Olson-Kennedy discussed how she and others attempted to prevent detransitioners from sharing their stories.

She stated, “So many of us worked hard to dissuade [60 minutes] from doing this segment.”

She has also advocated for double mastectomies for gender dysphoric 13-year-old girls, claiming that “If you want breasts at a later stage in your life, you can go and get them.”

In a February 2014 Children’s Hospital Los Angeles promotional video, Olson-Kennedy discussed her clinical and research work with young people who are gender dysphoric.

“So for those young kids who are starting puberty and have strong gender identities that don’t match their bodies, those young people can really benefit from not ever going through the wrong puberty the first time,” she said.

“It’s much easier if we can halt their puberty early on in the process, let them be suspended for a little bit, and then put them through the right puberty that corresponds to their brain. This is what we do in our program,” she said.

She continued saying, “If we get kids early enough in the process, we put them on puberty blockers or medications that actually keep their body from progressing through that wrong puberty,” and added that they could go onto hormones later in the future.

Why do you think this doctor won’t release her findings?

Copyright 2024. FamilyConservationPAC.com