Church institute warns against gender reassignment

The institute, abbreviated as IEF, points out on its website that more and more medical institutes advise against irreversible interventions to change someone's gender. IEF calls the treatments a "fad with devastating consequences."

IEF writes that the French National Academy of Medicine warns against treating children and young people with harmful and irreversible therapies if they question their biological sex. The Austrian institute refers to a press release of the French Academy. Children and adolescents are in particular psychologically vulnerable, the Academy argues. Therefore, it advises great medical restraint in prescribing these treatments. Possible side effects of hormone treatments the Academy mentions are impaired growth, brittle bones, risk of infertility and emotional and intellectual impairments.

In addition, it is hard for children and adolescents to distinguish between temporary and permanent gender dysphoria, IEF writes. The institute sees a growing number of young transgenders who want to return to their biological sex.

Therefore, the Swedish Karolinska University Hospital suspended treatment with puberty blockers. It argued that medical consequences were too unclear and that it was unknown whether the treatments were beneficial, IEF wrote earlier.

The IEF is an Austrian Bishops' Conference active in family counselling, pastoral family care and family policies.