"life-altering" risks and is "irreversible." While transgender people choosing to detransition is not unheard of—it rarely happens, according to recent data.The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), which provides guidelines for gender-affirming care, recently updated its guidelines for treatment and cited a 2022 study by the International Journal of Transgender Health that partially detailed the extent to which transgender people might regret transitioning later on in their lives.Gender-affirming care offers various types of support for transgender and nonbinary people, such as medical, surgical, and mental health services.
The treatment also includes puberty-blocking medication to temporarily stop sexual development, according to the American Psychological Association (APA).The International Journal of Transgender Health's study mentioned that individuals going through a process of identity exploration "should not necessarily be equated with regret, confusion, or poor decision-making because a TGD [transgender and gender diverse] adult's gender identity may change without devaluing previous transition decisions." However in last year's study, it was recommended that irreversible gender-affirming treatments should be avoided until clarity is reached in the exploration process.The study also cited a Dutch research from a few years ago that was based on clinical follow-up studies of adolescents with childhood gender dysphoria who received puberty suppression, gender-affirming hormones, or both.