Taboo Science

Trans 101: Trans Kids & the Reality of Youth Transition


Listen Later

The right says doctors are mutilating children. The left says nothing permanent is happening. They're both oversimplifying, but they're not equally wrong.

Meet Maya, who started transitioning at 13 with puberty blockers, then hormones, then surgery at 16. Now 25 and thriving, she walks us through what actually happened—and why she says it saved her life. We also talk to pediatrician Dr. Michelle Forcier, who breaks down the real medical process. We're busting the "most trans kids change their minds" myth with actual research, covering what puberty blockers really do, why some trans kids hate being on them, and the question nobody wants to ask: what happens to kids who don't get care? Turns out inaction is also a decision, and it comes with permanent consequences too. This episode won't give you easy answers, but it will show you what the science actually says and why everyone who knows trans youth best says the same thing: listen to them.

Content note: This episode includes discussion of self-harm and suicidality.

More from Michelle Forcier:
  • Brown University
  • LinkedIn
See citations and a transcript here: https://www.tabooscience.show/trans-101-trans-kids-the-reality-of-youth-transition/

Need music for a project? Use my Epidemic Sound referral link: https://share.epidemicsound.com/kbva2h

Connect with the show:
  • Join the Patreon: https://patreon.com/tabooscience
  • Leave me a voice memo: https://podline.fm/tabooscience
  • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tabooscience
  • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tabooscience
  • Website: https://www.tabooscience.show/ 
Loved this episode? Leave a review and rating here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/taboo-science/id1533606473
...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Taboo ScienceBy Ashley Hamer Pritchard

  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9

4.9

57 ratings


More shows like Taboo Science

View all
99% Invisible by Roman Mars

99% Invisible

26,233 Listeners

Skeptoid by Brian Dunning

Skeptoid

2,669 Listeners

Sawbones: A Marital Tour of Misguided Medicine by Justin McElroy, Dr. Sydnee McElroy

Sawbones: A Marital Tour of Misguided Medicine

14,820 Listeners

Dear Hank & John by Complexly

Dear Hank & John

7,744 Listeners

Imaginary Worlds by Eric Molinsky | QCODE

Imaginary Worlds

1,995 Listeners

Twenty Thousand Hertz by Dallas Taylor

Twenty Thousand Hertz

4,180 Listeners

Escape This Podcast by Escape This Podcast

Escape This Podcast

336 Listeners

Endless Thread by WBUR

Endless Thread

2,666 Listeners

Articles of Interest by Avery Trufelman

Articles of Interest

3,500 Listeners

Factually! with Adam Conover by Headgum

Factually! with Adam Conover

2,211 Listeners

Live Like the World is Dying by Margaret Killjoy

Live Like the World is Dying

439 Listeners

Maintenance Phase by Aubrey Gordon & Michael Hobbes

Maintenance Phase

16,794 Listeners

Let's Learn Everything! by Maximum Fun

Let's Learn Everything!

423 Listeners

Lateral with Tom Scott by Tom Scott and David Bodycombe

Lateral with Tom Scott

468 Listeners

The Urbanist Agenda by Not Just Bikes

The Urbanist Agenda

174 Listeners