Crosstalk: January 11, 2019

Dr. Michelle Cretella is the president of the American College of Pediatricians and a general pediatrician with a special interest in behavioral pediatrics.  She serves on the Medical Committee of the Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity and has served on the Board of Directors of the National Association for Research and therapy for Homosexuality.  She received her medical degree in 1994 from the University Of Connecticut School Of Medicine and completed in internship and residency in pediatrics in 1997 at the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in Hartford.

There was a study that came out in the journal ‘Pediatrics’ called, ‘Transgender Adolescent Suicide Behavior’. It broke down the suicide attempt rates according to the children’s gender identities. It found that if you had a biological girl who identified as such, or a boy who identified as a boy, those groups had the lowest rates of suicide attempts. The teens who had the highest rates were girls who believed themselves to be boys and teens who chose the term, ‘non-binary’ and identified neither as a boy or girl. Dr. Cretella’s caution to the article in the Daily Signal was that this information will be used to pressure parents of girls who believe they’re transgender, and to have their daughters rushed into transition via dangerous hormones and double mastectomies before they’re even old enough to consider driving.

A message that’s being put across by all this is that parents will be told that if they don’t support the claims of their child, help them transition socially, give them a new name, and get them on certain drugs, they are abusive parents.

Dr. Cretella also noted that the authors of the study simply assume that having a transgender identity is normal, inborn, healthy and not changeable. There’s no rigorous science supporting the claim that people are born transgender. Thinking and feeling is not hard-wired like skin color. Twin studies show that no one is destined to be born anorexic, and in the same way, no one is born destined to believe that they are not their biological sex. She said, ‘We know that behavior can be changed; thinking can change, feelings can change, especially in children and especially in adolescence where the brain is going through such rapid growth and fine tuning.’

More evidence is presented to support the claims of the guest and callers bring their perspective as well. You can hear it all when you review this important Crosstalk broadcast.