Controversial Therapies for Adoptees

Adoptees have been subjected to various kinds of controversial therapies due to behaviors over the years that could be or have been labeled as child abuse. Some, like the case of  Candace Newmaker ,  have ended up in death.

A new story has been spreading rapidly across several countries over the past few weeks. Thomas Lobel is a boy adopted at age 2. He has a special need, apraxia, which is a serious speech delay, impediment that is associated with mental illness and learning disabilities, according to a CNN article.

The Daily Mail states: “His parents, a lesbian couple, say that “one of the first things Thomas told them when he learned sign language aged three – because of a speech impediment – was, ‘I am a girl’.

At age seven, after threatening genital mutilation on himself, psychiatrists diagnosed Thomas with gender identity disorder. By the age of eight, he began transitioning.

This summer, [at age 8] he started taking hormone-blocking drugs, which will stop him from experiencing puberty.”

He would be allowed to choose at a later date at age 15 or 16 if he did want to go through puberty.

Some will see this a gender rights issue, but prominent physicians and the majority of commenters on these articles are labeling it child abuse.

Downplaying his Special Need

All the articles qualify his special need as a minor speech impediment. Apraxia is a serious disorder (see here ) that usually involves some level of mental health issue and learning disability. In fact, the school that they say he attends Children’s Learning Center  in which the“mission at Children’s Learning Center is to provide a comprehensive alternative educational program for exceptional children, who, because of their intense behavioral, social, emotional and educational needs are temporarily unable to succeed in the public school system. By developing a positive attitude toward learning, developing and strengthening self-esteem, teaching them essential academic and social skills, and successfully returning them to the public schools, CLC strives to enhance the quality of their lives and to enable them to reach their full potential in society.

Children have “ Asperger’s Syndrome, emotional disturbances, learning disabilities, mild developmental delays or mild autism”

Circumstances Prior to Adoption?

Furthermore, none of the articles discuss his circumstances prior to adoption and whether that is affecting his behavior. Was he adopted from foster care? Were social workers involved with followup with this child? Was he adopted internationally? What do his biological parents think about this?More importantly: Did he come from an abusive environment in those first two years of life? Were counselors with experience with adoption issues consulted in their supposed list of mental health professionals?

From a medical perspective: Do they know his family’s medical history? Besides many health professionals such as Dr. Paul McHugh ,chairman of Johns Hopkins University’s psychiatric department, and the general public questioning the suppression of puberty and use of medications that can cause severe side effects, is he at even greater risk due to stroke history in his family? None of these very important questions seem to be asked.

This therapy has only been offered to children in the US at four facilities since 2007. You can see the lengthy informed consent and multiple risks for such a procedure here.

From the CNN article “No statistics exist on the number of transgender children taking such medical treatments.

Statistics on Change of Attitude of a Gender Disordered Child Over Time

The CNN article states “Medical practitioners have to be careful with children with gender identity issues, said Dr. Kenneth Zucker, head of the Gender Identity Service in the Child, Youth, and Family Program and professor at the University of Toronto. Giving children hormone blockers to kids before the age of 13 is too early, he said.

Zucker conducted a study following 109 boys who had gender identity disorder between the ages of 3 and 12. Researchers followed up at the mean age of 20 and found 12% of these boys continued to want to change genders.”

Dr Zucker also summarized other studies in Gender Identity Disorder in Children and Adolescents Annu. Rev. Clin. Psychol. 2005. 1:467–92. Green 1987 showed that of the 44 boys who had gender identity disorder, only one at age 18 was considering sex reassignment. The article additionally discusses data from six other reports (this is what is quoted in the CNN article) from a total of 55 boys. At followup age 13 to 26, only 11.9 percent had gender identity disorder.

Another study: Zucker & Bradley (1995, pp. 290–297)–of the 40 boys, 8 (20%) were classified as gender-dysphoric (considered sex reassignment) at follow-up.

Yet another: Cohen-Kettenis (2001) reported preliminary data on a sample of 56 boys first seen in childhood (mean age at assessment 9 years; range 6–12) and again later, when they had reached adolescence. Of these, 9 (16.1%) requested sex-reassignment.

Somewhere between 80 to 99 percent of children do not choose to alter their gender as adults according to existing data.

Recalling the risk factors for child abuse that we discussed yesterday here: Adopted children with learning disabilities and speech disorders are at risk. 80% of abuse begins at less than 3 and emotional abuse is pervasive . Females account for 61% or perpetrators and A common theme when interviewing abusive individuals is an unrealistic expectation of infant or child behaviors. Often they expect developmental-milestone maturity beyond the age of the child.

There are strong opinions on both sides of this issue. Let’s hope that the child’s long-term needs are really being considered and that political correctness is not masking appropriate medical and psychological care of this adoptee.

Sources:
Lesbian couple ‘cooperating’ with child’s mental illness
[OneNewsNow 10/11/11 by Charlie Butts]

The little boy who started a sex change aged eight because he (and his lesbian parents) knew he always wanted to be a girl
[Daily Mail 9/30/11]

Transgender kids: Painful quest to be who they are
[CNN 9/27/11 by Madison Park]

Controversial Therapy for Pre-Teen Transgender Patient Raises Questions
[Fox News 10/17/11 By Perry Chiaramonte]

REFORM Puzzle Piece