Gender medicine in the US: how the Cass review failed to land

Then, she found that the evidence underpinning the treatment intensive, “gender affirming” model of care for distressed young people was “limited” and “inconclusive.” The final report is even clearer: “The reality is that we have no good evidence on the long term outcomes of interventions to manage gender related distress.”

But in the United States, where the gender affirming model is the norm, the effect of Cass’s four year investigation and final report isn’t yet obvious. “Unfortunately, Cass does not seem to be penetrating the public consciousness,” says Zhenya Abbruzzese, cofounder of the four year old Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine (SEGM), a group of researchers and clinicians that has pushed for systematic reviews and an evidence based approach.