A group of transgender sociologists without medical degrees has released a study advocating for the use of testosterone in pregnant biological women who identify as men, despite the known health risks to their unborn children. The study claims that cautionary doctors are influenced by what they call “discriminatory beliefs” rather than scientific research.
The study labels these doctors as “cisnormative and judgmental” and accuses them of characterizing transgender patients’ pursuit of testosterone therapy during pregnancy as illicit or selfish. However, the use of testosterone during pregnancy has been scientifically proven as dangerous and poses risks to the developing child, including congenital disabilities, increased miscarriage and preterm labor rates, as well as interference with breast milk production after childbirth.
The obviously ideologically-based study however tries to justify testosterone use during pregnancy to avoid having a “different” child, but this reasoning is flawed, as being intersex and identifying as transgender are not the same.
Doctors have a duty to protect both the mother and the unborn child, and cautionary approaches are warranted. Yet this study also falsely suggests that pregnancy care is “gendered” when it is actually based on biological sex. There are alternative ways to manage depression and body dysphoria that do not involve potentially harmful compounds. Ultimately, testosterone is dangerous for the developing fetus, and using it during pregnancy exposes the child to unnecessary risks.
Yet it seems that the health of children, who are the future of every nation, is much less important than the feelings of trans persons and the way they perceive the world we live in.