INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON

EVIDENCE-BASED TREATMENT FOR GENDER-DYSPHORIC YOUTH

OCTOBER 2023, NEW YORK, NY

 

Opening remarks from Dr. Roberto D’Angelo.

In October 2023, the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM) hosted its first conference, International Perspectives on Evidence Based Treatment for Gender Dysphoric Youth. The conference featured more than 30 experts from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Together, these renowned speakers explored the deep divide over how best to support children and adolescents experiencing gender dysphoria. They discussed the experiences and concerns of clinical staff working in youth gender clinics, reviewed current treatment guidelines through the lens of evidence-based medicine, explored social and cultural factors that influence youth identity development, outlined the challenges facing scientific and medical institutions in the US, and presented new research. We would like to thank all the invited speakers for trusting SEGM to serve as a platform for these vitally important discussions.

Below are several featured lectures from the conference:

 
 
 

 

Agenda

Opening Remarks

  • Welcome and Opening Remarks by Dr. Roberto D’Angelo, SEGM President 2023

Gender Dysphoria and Youth: Historical Perspective

  • Gender Dysphoria Treatments in The USA: The Last 50 Years
  • The “Early Intervention” Model of the Dutch Protocol: Origin and Evolution
  • Treatment of Youth Gender-Nonconformity in the Early Years of the Dutch Protocol
  • The Evolution of Treatment for Gender-Dysphoric Youth in Finland

The Etiology of Gender Dysphoria in Youth

  • The Transgender Brain: What Do We Know?
  • Multiple Pathways of Gender Dysphoria
  • The Social Contagion Hypothesis
  • The Role of Social and Cultural Context (Panel Discussion)

Puberty Blockers: Assessing the Evidence

  • The Centrality of Puberty Blockers to the Gender-Affirmative Model for Youth
  • The Effect of Puberty Blockers on the Teenage Brain: What do we Know?
  • What Do We Know About Suicidality/Suicide Risk and Whether Puberty Blockers and Cross-Sex Hormones Decrease this Risk?
  • Puberty Blockers: A Benign Pause, a Life-Saving Treatment, or a Risky Experiment? (Panel Discussion)

Current Gender Dysphoria Treatment Guidelines: Assessing the Quality

  • What’s a Trustworthy Guideline?
  • Overview of Key US Clinical Guidelines
  • Systematic Review of Existing Guidelines—Spotlight on World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) Standard of Care 7 (SOC7)
  • Appraising the Quality of the WPATH SOC8
  • Challenges Facing US Scientific and Healthcare Organizations (Panel Discussion)

Growing Divide Between European and Us Approaches to Youth Gender Dysphoria

  • Time to Think: The Lessons from The Largest Youth Gender Clinic in the World
  • A Brief History of Hormone Treatment for Youth with Gender Dysphoria in Sweden
  • Lessons from Finland
  • The Chasm Between the US and European Approaches (Panel Discussion)

Grounding Gender Medicine in the Evidence

  • Overview of Key Concepts in Evidence-Based Medicine: Diagnosis, Prognosis, Treatment Efficacy 
  • Overview of Systematic Reviews of Evidence
  • Masculinizing Mastectomy in Adolescents and Young Adults: Systematic Review of Evidence
  • Balancing Patient Values and Preferences in the Face of Risks and Unknowns (Panel Discussion)

Social Transition: Assessing the Evidence and Impact

  • Systematic Review of Evidence for Social Gender Transition
  • School Culture and Social Gender Transition
  • Social Gender Transition: A Benign Accommodation or a Powerful Psychosocial Intervention? (Panel Discussion)

Creating Credible Treatment Guidelines

  • Creating Credible Treatment Guidelines: The Evidence-Based Path Forward (Panel Discussion)

Closing Remarks

  • Closing Remarks by Dr. William Malone, SEGM Board Member

 

SEGM 2023 Conference Speakers