WHO guidance on gender-affirming look after trans adults could be ‘premature’, says Christian psychologist

A Christian psychologist has called for caution because the World Health Organisation works on recent guidelines for transgender healthcare. 

WHO recently concluded its public consultation on the proposed guidelines, which is able to concentrate on adult care provision. 

WHO said the proposed guidelines could be based on its “vision of a world through which all people attain the best possible level of health and well-being, leaving nobody behind”.

“This recent guideline will concentrate on five areas: provision of gender-affirming care, including hormones referring to adults; medical examiner education on and training for the supply of gender-inclusive care; provision of health look after trans and gender diverse individuals who have suffered interpersonal violence, based on their needs; health policies that support gender-inclusive care; and legal recognition of self-determined gender identity for adults,” it said. 

Dr Laura Haynes, chair of the International Foundation for Therapeutic and Counselling Choice (IFTCC), expressed alarm about promoting hormone-based interventions over psychiatric treatments. 

She said that such a move could be unscientific and premature, and would conflict with evidence from academic studies suggesting that medical interventions, including the usage of hormones, “don’t improve mental health and should worsen it”. 

In her submission to the consultation, Dr Haynes said, “Gender affirmative treatment is often founded on a viewpoint that discordant gender identity is biologically determined or inborn, hence who an individual inherently and indelibly is.

“This viewpoint has never been scientifically substantiated, and there shouldn’t be knowledgeable consensus in support of it.”

She said that gender dysphoria was a psychiatric condition and will subsequently be “appropriately treated by psychiatric treatments”.

“Cross-sex hormones should not a recognized treatment for these psychiatric conditions,” she said.

“Treating psychiatric conditions that predispose to or perpetuate gender dysphoria could also be expected to assist gender dysphoric individuals grow to be more comfortable of their bodies, but more research is required on treating gender dysphoria with psychotherapy and psychiatry, fairly than gender specialist treatments.”

She concluded: “Developing a WHO affirmative guideline for treating adult gender dysphoria with hormones could be premature and scientifically unfounded. Gender discordant adults and detransitioners must have access to therapy that explores the context through which their gender discordance emerged.”