Investigative journalism's hallmark is its ability to examine multiple perspectives. This is what CBS 60 Minutes is known for, and the reason its viewers trust it.60 Minutes+, the new Paramount+ spinoff, did contact The Heritage Foundation to get our opinion on the Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act (SAFE) Act. This Arkansas bill bans the sterilization and surgery of gender-dysphoric kids through the experimental use of hormones.60 Minutes+ did not interview parents with gender dysphoria in its coverage of treatment for children. Instead, 60 Minutes+ interviewed only those who support transgender ideology as well as the model of gender-affirming child care.60 Minutes+ did not consider the views of those who warn against transing children, due to the long-term damage to their mental and/or physical health.I spoke with them for over an hour and recommended they include these other perspectives. I also gave the producers the contact information of those who were available to speak on camera.Here's what 60 Minutes+ did not show you:1. Children who transitioned or desisted were not helped by hormones or surgeries.The piece was largely about Dylan, a 15 year-old girl who identified as a boy and takes testosterone. She finds it useful. I explained to Seth Doane, 60 Minutes+ correspondent, that hormones were banned in the UK for treating gender dysphoria in children below 16 years old. This was based on the fact that they are incapable of giving informed consent.Informed consent is morally and legally based on the belief that patients have the right to make health decisions for themselves. Informed consent is dependent on one's ability to comprehend the possible consequences of treatment, including both benefits as well as risks.Because children and adolescents don't have the same emotional and intellectual capacities as adults, Britain discovered that its national gender clinic (like the many others in America) broke this ethical principle by administering puberty blocks to Keira Bell aged 16. She was too young to understand what the consequences meant.Bell had a double breastectomy when she was 20 years old, and regrets the decision. Bell was left with no breasts and a deep voice. She also had a thick beard that affected her sexual function.Bell sued the clinic. It was a sad time in my life. My body was fine. She said that I was just confused and lacking proper support. Transition allowed me to hide more from myself than I had before. If it was temporary, it was temporary.The U.K.'s findings led to the Finnish government acknowledging that children should be allowed to wait and watch, not being rushed into irreversible side effects. Sweden's top hospital is following suit.I explained to the reporter that the number of detransitioners was small. Walt Heyer, an American man who lived eight years as a woman, had collected stories from detransitioners all over the globe and estimated that 20% of them experience sex-change regret. However, they didn't include this data.60 Minutes+ interviewed Lesley Stahl, a correspondent for 60 Minutes, shortly before the 60 Minutes+ interview. Stahl interviewed 30 detransitioners including one who claimed he was suicidal after undergoing genital surgery.The Human Rights Campaign and other LGBT activists reacted strongly to 60 Minutes' inclusion of voices from those who are skeptical about gender affirmation.2. Parents who don't want their children to go through transition are often ignored by counselors or doctors.Two mothers of transgender children were featured in the 60 Minutes+ segment. They wanted their children to keep receiving experimental hormones. We provided contact information for parents who wish their children to accept their bodies to the producers, but they declined to interview us.TransMission: What's the Rush to Reassign Gender, a documentary about their lives, lets you see their stories.One mom from the movie Brynne relates that the pediatrician told her that if she didn't confirm my daughter's identity and I didnt provide the necessary help, she would kill herself. She was going to make me feel terrible in front of my child.Parents of children with gender dysphoria are joining forces in groups like Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria Kids or Fourth Wave Now. They want to stop school officials, counselors, and doctors pushing their children into extreme treatments that can cause them to lose their emotional and physical health, and make it impossible for them to have their own families.These stories are told in Abigail Shriers book Irreversible damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing our Daughters. We also gave it to the producers. Because these parents don't fit the narrative that hormones can be miracle drugs for children who are unhappy with their bodies, the mainstream media has largely ignored them.3. Doctors question the effectiveness of transgender movement recommendations and warn children of long-term dangers.60 Minutes+ highlighted the World Professional Association for Transgender Health's recommendations that children be given hormones and in some cases even surgery. The World Professional Association for Transgender Health does not include medical professionals. It is an association of professionals from anthropology and sexuality that aims to improve standards in medical care.Jason Pierceson, a pro-LGBT author, has written a book entitled Sexual Minorities and Politics that explains how politics and money influenced the reclassification of gender dysfunction in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.The condition was previously called gender-identity disorder. It was then renamed gender dysphoria. Now, the manual only describes the anxiety that is associated with the condition.Doctors from the U.S. as well as overseas are increasingly questioning the sudden increase in transgender children.Doctors who developed the Dutch Protocol of cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers for children with gender dysphoria were shocked by the recent increase in gender dysphoria.Side effects of precocious puberty (premature onset puberty) medication include degenerative disc disease, fibromyalgia and other conditions.Gender dysphoria, however, is not a physiological problem. Gender-affirming care assumes that changing a child's appearance to look like the opposite sex will relieve their mental and emotional distress.However, not one study has shown any mental health benefits.The results of a Swedish study on the long-term effects and suicide rates of transgender people after surgery showed that they were 19 times more likely to attempt suicide than the average person.60 Minutes+ reported that Obama-era Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services found that 35% of transgender youth tried suicide. However, the report failed to mention that the centers did not endorse the medical recommendations of transgender communities due to the Swedish study.4. Transgender medicine is a lucrative business for pharmaceutical companies.Injectable estrogen can cost up to $2,400 per year, while testosterone patches can cost as high as $4,200 per year.A 15-year old girl will have to start taking puberty blocksers over her lifetime. It will cost more than $100,000. Additional costs for surgical transition, including removal of breasts, shaping of genitalia to look like the opposite sex, facial masculinization, or feminization, are estimated at more than $100,000.There are many interested parties, including doctors, insurance companies, and pharmaceuticals manufacturers, who stand to reap significant profits from the gender affirming care model.60 Minutes+ interviewed Dr. Michele Hutchison. She testified against the SAFE Act, and was part of the ACLUs lawsuit to stop the law from taking effect. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 88% of girls and 98% of guys accept their bodies after puberty.Hutchisons gender clinic makes its profits by letting her patients have hormones and other surgeries. It is similar to asking a tobacco manufacturer about the age limit for smoking and bans on selling cigarettes to children if she doesn't disclose her financial stake.5. Counselling that would encourage children to accept their bodies is being banned by lawmakersParents who see their children struggling with their bodies should seek out counselors to diagnose the underlying condition of gender dysphoria. This includes anxiety, trauma, stress, and autism. This counseling is prohibited in 24 states.60 Minutes+ asked me about transgender activists' attempts to silence opposing views. They didn't interview any of those who passed the counseling bans. And, although they interviewed ACLU, which supports the bans, they didn't ask that question.Crystal, a mother to a male gender dysphoric son writes that New Jersey does not allow any speech that promotes sex transition for children or youth. It is biologically impossible to transition to the opposite gender. Children and teens who struggle with their gender identity should be able to talk about why they are uncomfortable in their bodies.Advocates for the body are silenced by lawmakers. They also silence children and youth who struggle to feel at ease with their bodies.Parents and children are left without the option of seeking out counselors or doctors who can treat their gender distress via talk therapy.Journalists should be particularly concerned about censorship, but this was an aspect of the story that 60 Minutes+ did not include.The reporter denied that gender dysphoria was the underlying mental illness that children suffer from. This led to parents and children accepting the advice of doctors and counselors who are gender-affirming.Dylan is one of many young people who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria. Gender dysphoria is not a common condition for transgender people. Gender dysphoria, however, is well understood to be the underlying condition that causes most transgender children, youth and adults to identify themselves as such.The World Professional Association for Transgender Healths Standards of Care for the Health of Transsexuals,Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Persons recommend that young people with gender dysphoria should be treated with hormones or surgeries. For transgender people, they don't recommend it.60 Minutes+ included a segment with Dr. Rachel Levine (a transgender advocate and assistant secretary at the federal Department of Health and Human Services).Rand Paul (R-Ky.), asked why gender-affirming care should not be allowed for American children, since genital mutilation has been universally condemned as an abuse of human rights.Levine claimed that the comparison between genital and gender-affirming mutilation is completely incorrect. He claimed that the former is based on literature, professional advice, and evidence. This means that you should trust the experts and not examine what is actually involved in these operations.Paul is correct to raise these concerns about the dangers associated with gender-affirming care.At least one country's highest court has ruled children cannot consent to these procedures. Other medical organizations, both in the U.S.A and abroad, are raising similar concerns. America should engage in an honest and open discussion about these serious matters.60 Minutes+ only showed one side of these discussions. Americans should see and hear both sides to be able to make informed decisions.Do you have a comment about this article? Send us an email at [email protected] with your comments. We may publish them in our We Hear You section. Include the article's URL or headline, along with your name, town, and/or state.
