Discussion
Our review showed that while crossgender
identification was noted in all
patients from about 3 years of age,
children did not present to our specialist
service until a mean age of 10
years. Many families reported difficulty
in finding specialists in this field;
some medical and paramedical clinicians
had previously rejected these
patients from care. Our experience
was that patients and their families
were relieved to find specialist health
care providers for paediatric GID. Of
the patients considered eligible for
hormone treatment, many wished to
commence treatment urgently, with
the court approving phase 2 treatment
in one child at 15.6 years
(younger than the current guideline
of 16 years).
The number of referrals increased
over the study period and, based
on international experience,14 is
expected to rise further. We believe
this increase is due to improved
awareness of a medical service for
children with GID, rather than any
increase in the incidence of the disorder.
In addition to the increasing
numbers of new referrals, more than
half of our patients are yet to reach
puberty. Development of expertise in
this area, including good transitional
services to adult care, is necessary.
There have been a number of challenges
involved in establishing a
treatment service for children with
GID, from administrative concerns
such as the gender and name
assigned on the medical record, to
comorbid diagnosis concerns, restrictions
on Pharmaceutical Benefits
Scheme funding for hormone therapy,
and appropriate choice of treatment
dependent on physical and
mental developmental stage. For
example, GnRH analogue treatment,
when used to suppress pubertal progression
in a distressed peripubertal
young person, provides more useful
time for psychological counselling,
but in a postpubertal biological
female, simple suppression of menses
using continuous treatment with the
oral contraceptive pill may be more
appropriate. While a clear management
protocol has been developed,
much consideration is required for
each individual case.
Due to the specialised nature of
assessment and treatment, most cases
nationally have been referred to
RCHM when hormone treatment is
considered. To the best of our knowledge,
adolescents who received hormone
treatment at RCHM during the
period studied represent the entire
population of children receiving
puberty suppression and cross-gender
hormone treatment for GID in
Australia.
Psychological causations have been
proposed, however the precise aetiology
of profound GID is not known.
Biological factors may also be significant
in causation of childhood GID,
and a heritable component has been
suggested by twin association studies.15,16
We noted comorbid behavioural
disorders in one-quarter of
children, with Asperger syndrome in
one in seven. An association between
paediatric GID and autism spectrum
disorders has previously been
reported, however the mechanism is
also unknown.17,18
Concerns exist regarding the longterm
outcome following hormone
treatment of children and adolescents
with GID.19 Evidence from larger
international cohorts suggests behavioural
problems and depression
improve in the period following
pubertal suppression, but anxiety,
anger, and gender dysphoria may
remain unchanged.8
The long-term
psychological and health outcomes of
cross-sex hormone treatment are
unknown, as is the rate of “regret”
with reversal of gender identity.
These concerns, along with issues
relating to the ability of a child or his or
her parents to consent to such significant
medical treatment, contribute to
legal involvement in medical decision
making in this area. The unfortunate
corollary to this is that, as the financial
burden of legal involvement is borne
by the family and the process itself can
be extremely stressful, some families
have elected not to pursue hormone
treatment, simply to avoid the complicated
and costly legal process. These
do not seem equitable or just reasons
for restricting a young person’s access
to medical care. Furthermore, a young
person observing the distress that
court application causes for the parents
may feel uncomfortable expressing
any doubts they have regarding
hormone treatment.
There is a growing body of literature
on the management of GID in
children, including internationally
established consensus treatment
guidelines, and keeping abreast of the
scientific literature is a priority in clinical
management. Because data on
long-term outcomes are limited,
assessment and treatment must be
rigorous. We suggest that treatment
should occur within specialised clinics
where there are established clinical
protocols in place, in a shared care