In the January 16 episode of TLC’s I Am Jazz, titled “Resisting Temptation,” transgender teenager Jazz Jennings and "her" mom, Jeanette, are invited to participate in a panel discussion on gender dysphoria for a podcast. The discussion includes a skeptical scientist from Toronto, Dr. Susan Bradley. Other panelists are Zinnia Jones, a transgender woman and researcher from Atlanta, and Jodie Patterson, a mom with a transgender son who is looking for guidance on dealing with her child.
Dr. Bradley isn’t convinced that all children professing to be transgender are serious about their gender dysphoria and many opt out of actually going through the surgery necessary to physically become a different gender. Gender dysphoria is a form of mental illness, according to most mental health experts. The population of transgender Americans is minuscule. It is simply not normal for most Americans.
In the lead up to the podcast taping, Jazz does a bit of research into Dr. Bradley’s study and finds the test group contains 100 people. Jazz and her transgender friend Noelle, who is helping Jazz with some debating tips, declare this is just too small of a group to come to any real scientific conclusions. Dr. Bradley is against hormone therapy to prevent puberty in children who think they are transgender. She has studied children ranging in age from 3 to 10 and followed them through adolescence. She finds that many end up determining they are gay or lesbian, not transgender. She believes that there is no evidence that children are born this way.
Jazz and Zinnia do not believe this finding and argue that transgender kids always know they are transgender, they are not confused about it. “Puberty is a form of torture,” says Jazz. True enough, for all teenagers, but why shut that process down? Then she tells Dr. Bradley that it is not a doctor’s role to determine who should and shouldn’t use chemical blockers. What?
Jazz: When you said it's preferable for transgender people to go through puberty, I feel like that's comparable to a form of torture. If I had to go through male puberty, I honestly don't know where I would be. I'm not sure if I would be alive.
Jodie: When you start to intervene in a transgender child's life, what are we intervening for? Are we trying to prevent this person from making a mistake?
Dr. Bradley: I'm not a doubter in terms of the benefits of transitioning for some people. The problem is which people.
Jazz: I feel like, as doctors and scientists, it's not your role to determine those decisions. We should be finding the persisters, giving them the support and love they need, and allowing them to transition and be happy, and they know the answer. And as doctors, you're there to guide them and help them down that path.
Jazz is dealing with a very real problem as a result of her puberty being blocked with hormone treatments. In order to complete her transition from male to female, Jazz must have surgery to physically look female. Her stunted puberty has left her without enough tissue to form a vagina and that must now come from other parts of the body.
Concerned mom Jodie asks what parents should do when confronted with a child who thinks he/she is transgender. Dr. Bradley suggests using “gentle discouragement” which doesn’t sit well with Jazz. Showing her age (16), she says, “It’s completely not ok to prevent a trans child from doing what makes them happy.” Wow.
The podcast resolves nothing. The subject is left up in the air. While Dr. Bradley isn’t against people transitioning, she is unconvinced as to which children will truly turn out to be transgender. That’s the main problem. While Jazz says, “Hormone blockers changed and saved my life,” what about those who take blockers only to change their mind going into adulthood? Reversals happen far more often than Jazz would like to admit, and that will only continue to happen if we allow children to determine what they think makes them happy at such a young age rather than waiting to be sure.
