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Mia Hughes: Finnish data shows gender treatments increase psychiatric needs. Canada lags behind

A major registry study adds to the growing body of evidence that medical transition fails to deliver promised mental health benefits

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A major new study from Finland casts fresh doubt on the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgeries for adolescents experiencing gender distress. For more than a decade, supporters of these interventions have argued that they reliably improve mental health and can even be “life-saving” for trans-identified youth. Yet this Finnish study — one of the largest and most robust to date — found no such benefit. Instead, it linked the treatments to a marked worsening of mental health.

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Canada has so far paid little heed to the accumulating warnings from systematic evidence reviews and clinical course corrections abroad. Whether these latest findings will finally prompt Canadian gender clinics to reconsider their treatment approach remains an open question.

Mia Hughes: Finnish data shows gender treatments increase psychiatric needs. Canada lags behind Back to video

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