Cameron Wright, 16, has always seen himself as a “man”. As a young child, Cameron had no words to explain the disconnect between how he saw himself and how the world saw him. But he knew that, despite being born in the body of a girl, he should be a boy.
After taking reversible puberty blockers that stop teenage physical changes, Cameron wondered if he wanted to start hormone therapy to make the physical transition last longer. He did not take the decision lightly. Cameron said that his doctor made him spend almost a year thinking about that issue, working with his therapist and thinking about life-changing implications before the doctor believed he was ready to start taking medication in 2020.
“I was thinking about making life a lot easier if I were a girl,” said Cameron, who uses the pronouns he and he. “But this is what I want and I will not allow anything to stop me from being what I want to be, whether it is difficult or not.”
Then, in November 2021, the Clinic for Interdisciplinary Support for Gender Education and Care in Dallas, known as Genecis, stopped accepting new patients for hormonal treatment of gender dysphoria due to pressure from Republican activists and politicians. Although doctors can continue to see patients like Cameron who have already been treated, the clinic has been dismantled. Cameron and his family are now worried about what that means to them.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has also opened investigations into pharmaceutical companies whose products are used by transgender patients, and Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and the state GOP are increasingly focusing legislative and re-election efforts on a record number of laws targeting transgender young people, their parents and their doctors.
Since then, the Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston has announced that it will stop offering hormone therapy. The Texas Tribune reported that Legacy Community Health, also in Houston, was quietly pausing hormone therapy for teenagers. And doctors across the country are telling patients that they will no longer prescribe drugs under pressure from insurance companies.
Transgender young people and their families across Texas are now struggling to find service providers and maintain access to their medications, and some are exploring options outside the state. It is estimated that about 17,000 transgender people between the ages of 13 and 17 live in Texas, according to Equality Texas, an LGBTQ + educational and advocacy organization.
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For Chloe Ross, 15, who uses the pronouns she and she, curbing her worries is disturbing. “I am the same person as everyone else,” she said.
Clone’s doctor is still examining her and prescribing her hormones. But her mother, Catherine Ross, began exploring options for out-of-state care. The family saved money in case they moved, Ross said, but they hope that will not happen.
“Since we just moved and Chloe has made good friends, the last thing we want to do is uproot her,” Ross said. “Relocation would be the last option.”
During the pandemic, the family moved to a larger city in Texas, leaving behind bullies, and the teenager was accepted by new school friends who know her only as Chloe, someone who loves theater and wants to study genetics. But Abbott’s orders to investigate parents who allow their children to receive care that affirms gender, and the legal threat to criminalize such care, burden Chloe hard.
“I’m just trying to get through high school and all,” Chloe said through tears. “It’s awful that Governor Abbott worries me about things like that because I can’t live a normal life anymore, you know?” Right now, I have to go to my teachers to ask them not to report me as a trance. I shouldn’t worry about something like that. “
For as long as she can remember, Chloe said, she has favored wearing jewelry, playing volleyball and participating in the theater. She didn’t know how to express how she felt and she thought he was gay. Chloe and her mother said that foreigners regularly assumed that Chloe was a girl, even though she presented herself as a boy, and that she had not yet come out as a transgender person.
Reiterating other parents, Chloe’s mother said that, although she was already deeply involved in supporting and advocating for LGBTQ +, the fact that Chloe came out as a transgender woman was a “blow to the stomach”. She never believed Chloe, but she was afraid for her daughter’s future. She was afraid of what was happening now.
Young people receiving gender-sensitive care include those in social transition - for example, wearing clothing that reflects their gender identity - and those taking puberty blockers or hormones.
However, not all young people who identify as transgender or experience a condition known as gender dysphoria, which means that they experience psychological stress when their body does not match their identity. And people who take puberty blockers do not necessarily decide to take birth hormones. Surgery is not recommended for people under 18 years of age.
Although concern for the gender affirmation of trans young people remains politically controversial in many parts of the United States, a study published by the JAMA Network Open showed a reduction in suicidal ideation among trans youth who received such care. Health organizations that include the Endocrine Society, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Medical Association support gender-affirming health care.
Despite the changes in Genesis, Cameron is scheduled for a May examination with Dr. Ximena Lopez, the doctor who oversees his care. His mother, Miriam Reynolds, however, worries that this will not happen. Lopez filed a lawsuit against UT Southwestern Medical Center, which jointly managed Genesis with the Dallas Children’s Medical Center, alleging that the institution discriminated against some patients by preventing them from receiving gender-sensitive care based on their gender identity.
Reynolds, meanwhile, is taking over Cameron’s hormone supplements as soon as they are available to maintain a constant supply. She also said that the family is considering all options so that Cameron could continue to receive care despite the coups.
“They don’t care at all about trying to help my child,” Reynolds said. “It’s all political theater.”
This is especially difficult because the Genesis approach was considered when the family decided to move from Colorado to Texas in 2017. Cameron had already proven to be a transgender person, and after researching the clinic, his mother believed he would receive compassionate, caring care as he moved. . Now the family is worried about what kind of care Cameron will be able to get in Texas.
Cameron, who hopes to study music production or become a firefighter, is trying to be optimistic that politicians will stop tightening medical care for people like him.
“I can’t control who I am,” Cameron said. “Neither my mother nor my doctor does this. I’m just trying to be who I am. “
KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces detailed journalism on health issues. Along with policy analysis and surveys, KHN is one of the three main operational programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is a non-profit organization that provides information on health issues to the nation.
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