To the Editor:
In “Surgery, Hormones, but Not Happiness” (Sunday Review, Nov. 25), Andrea Long Chu, writing about my July/August Atlantic cover story about gender-dysphoric youths, sums up my argument, ostensibly delivered to readers through a “dog whistle,” as follows: “Hormones and surgery can and should be withheld from patients who want them when such treatments cannot be reasonably expected to ‘maximize good outcomes.’”
My article explicitly argues the opposite. It includes a 750-word section on the historical difficulties transgender people have faced getting the treatment they need — a section that concludes by explaining why “informed consent,” or the idea that transgender adults should have final say over their health care, is an important innovation.
Moreover, Ms. Chu borrows the phrase “maximize good outcomes” from a section of my article about diagnostic protocols for gender-dysphoric youths — who, because they are minors, can’t in general legally consent to their own medical treatment — and wrongly implies to readers that it’s a reference to my beliefs about adult care.
Jesse Singal
Brooklyn
Source: Read Full Article
Home » Analysis & Comment » Opinion | Medical Care for Transgender Adults
Opinion | Medical Care for Transgender Adults
To the Editor:
In “Surgery, Hormones, but Not Happiness” (Sunday Review, Nov. 25), Andrea Long Chu, writing about my July/August Atlantic cover story about gender-dysphoric youths, sums up my argument, ostensibly delivered to readers through a “dog whistle,” as follows: “Hormones and surgery can and should be withheld from patients who want them when such treatments cannot be reasonably expected to ‘maximize good outcomes.’”
My article explicitly argues the opposite. It includes a 750-word section on the historical difficulties transgender people have faced getting the treatment they need — a section that concludes by explaining why “informed consent,” or the idea that transgender adults should have final say over their health care, is an important innovation.
Moreover, Ms. Chu borrows the phrase “maximize good outcomes” from a section of my article about diagnostic protocols for gender-dysphoric youths — who, because they are minors, can’t in general legally consent to their own medical treatment — and wrongly implies to readers that it’s a reference to my beliefs about adult care.
Jesse Singal
Brooklyn
Source: Read Full Article