Transgender Youth treatment guidelines Released in Germany, Sparking Debate and Hope
BERLIN – In a move hailed as a “milestone” for transgender youth care, a coalition of German medical and psychotherapeutic societies has published a complete guideline for the treatment of trans-sex children and adolescents. The document, released in early March, offers a framework for psychologists, psychiatrists, and hormone specialists working with transgender minors, aiming too standardize care and ensure respectful, informed treatment.
The guideline addresses a range of concerns, from initial diagnostics and psychosocial support to psychotherapeutic interventions and gender-affirming medical treatments.
“The guideline is a milestone: it will improve the medical and psychotherapeutic care of trans-youth and make it more clear for young people and their families,” said Sabine Maur from the Federal Chamber of Psychotherapists,one of the guideline’s authors,in an interview with the German Press Agency.
Key Recommendations
The guideline emphasizes the importance of patient autonomy and informed consent. According to the new guidelines, a young person should always be able to decide on a gender -taking hormone treatment, and the parents should agree. It stresses the need for experts to support young people in making “a weighed decision” with the guidance of experienced professionals.
However,the guideline acknowledges concerns about potential regret. “Young people should be allowed to understand that they decide themselves and have the opportunity to try and leave something back on a limited frame,” explains one of the authors.
Child and adolescent psychiatrist Georg Romer, coordinator of the guideline, emphasizes the importance of individualized care: “We have to protect young people from premature wrong decisions, but we also have to take into account that too long waiting can also have harmful consequences.”
Hormone Therapy: Prerequisites and considerations
The guideline outlines specific prerequisites for medical interventions like puberty blockers and hormone therapy. Sexual hormone treatment should only begin if the person has felt like trans sex for several years. This should rule out that it may only be a temporary search for identity. Custodians should in any case be included in the decision -making process, while also emphasizing the importance of a thorough youth psychiatric evaluation.It is important for the accompaniment of young people that these experts have several years of experiance in the field.
“For the start of hormone therapy, it is not necessary to have made a certain minimum number of therapy lessons from the point of view of the experts,” according to the guideline. While psychotherapy should be offered, it is not mandatory.
Mari Günther from the Federal Association Trans* explains, “Young people often have the experience in care that they are encountered with distrust or that they are assumed to be something…So there is no accepting space for your own weighing process.”
