The Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare released new recommendations that effectively halt “gender-affirming” medical interventions in minors and prioritize psychotherapy for the treatment of gender-dysphoric youth. This is confirms the direction taken by the leading children’s hospital in Sweden last year, after a series of investigative reports exposed the harm suffered by children and young people who were medically “transitioned” using hormones and surgery.
Sweden now joins Finland, the UK, and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists in prioritizing psychotherapy to treat young people experiencing gender dysphoria.
Sweden was an “early adopter” of medical interventions to address identity confusion in minors. However, according to Swedish news reports, the decision of the National Board of Health and Welfare comes after a “review of relevant studies on the effect and safety of hormone treatment carried out by the Swedish Agency for Medical and Social Evaluation (SBU)” found a lack of evidence to support continued hormonal or surgical interventions in minors, except for exceptional circumstances or in the context of research.
According to the Society for Evidence-based Gender Medicine (SEGM) , the new guidelines emphasize the “key role for psychiatric and psychosocial services.”
