How many patients re-identify with their birth-registered sex? Rare findings from an Aussie gender clinic

Researchers looked at the frequency of re-identification with birth sex among young people treated at the Perth Children's Hospital Gender Diversity Service.
Blake Cavve, lead author, Telethon Kids Institute.

This morning saw the release in JAMA Pediatrics of a new study looking at young patients referred to one of Australia’s state-funded paediatric gender clinics.

It attempts to shed light on one of the key controversies: what proportion of patients treated at these clinics will subsequently re-identify with their birth sex?

As the authors themselves acknowledge, despite clinical, social and media concerns regarding re-identification, there are few studies on this, and those that do exist on longitudinal gender identities have “methodological, theoretical and ethical limitations”.

Given the study’s rarity — certainly when it comes to gender clinics in Australia — it is worth going into some detail.