Youth Gender-Transition Treatment Not Tied to Lower Suicide Deaths in Finland

Such treatment for adolescents with gender dysphoria was also not linked to lower psychiatric treatment needs, according to preliminary findings from an analysis of Finnish health data.

Among young people with gender dysphoria, medical gender-transition treatment is not associated with a lower rate of death by suicide or less demand for psychiatric treatment, according to preliminary findings from an analysis of decades of Finnish health data.

LGBTQ youths in general and children with gender dysphoria in particular experience a high rate of suicidality, including suicidal thoughts and attempts, according to multiple studies.

A 2021 editorial in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health criticized efforts in U.S. states to ban gender-transition treatment for children, stating of puberty blockers, “Removing these treatments is to deny life.” Similarly, LGBTQ advocacy groups often state that treating gender dysphoria among children and adolescents with puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones is “life saving.”

The new findings from Finland, which have not yet been published or sub…