Seeing as this article revolves around the mother's feelings and not the actual patient, I searched online to see if I could find out more from the viewpoint of the kid. Color me shocked (not really) to find out that, allegedly, this article was published against the child's wishes, and that it doesn't faithfully portray their account of things. (I'm not really shocked because TFP has established a pattern of publishing articles that contribute to the marginalization of trans people.)
If TFP actually wants to live up to their promise of "transparency, honesty, and integrity," then they should probably give this kid a chance to tell their side of this story. If TFP is really about "getting to the truth," then that would be appropriate, right?
These “gender-affirming” medical practitioners are using the same high pressure sales techniques as the worst used car salesmen. Their fear-mongering combined with lies of omission and commission are only to score a sale, regardless of the irreversible horrors inflicted on the customer.
We owe so much to Bari and Nellie and the FreePress team for their courage and commitment.
So let me see if I'm understanding this correctly:
1) The mother acknowledges her child was struggling with depression and anxiety BEFORE starting hormone blockers.
2) The child, Casey, says that they were experiencing depression before starting the blockers. 3) There isn't any evidence that the blockers were the cause of a worsening depression for Casey.
It sounds to me like the mom just has a lot of antipathy about her child transitioning and decided that the center was the bad guy here.
My kid tried to do this at 15. I put her in real therapy (at real financial risk for the therapist) and took away her phone and internet for several months. Funny how when her other mental issues were addressed and resolved, so to was the trans identity. It took 2+ years for this to happen, but worth every penny. And, she's got ADHD and ASD tendencies. Surprise, surprise. So much of what the child in this article said I heard from mine. "I'll just adopt" was a popular response. These kids are taught a script. It's maddening. I didn't affirm and I avoided the gender clinic like it was full of the plague. They aren't old enough to make these decisions. They have no idea how much life will change, how much they will change - priorities, wishes, wants. Why puberty is being medicalized, I'll never understand, except it seems to validate the fetishes of middle-aged men and makes a lot of someones a LOT of money.
Is the point here that these complaints by these people represents the experience of all people and families under such treatment? Because that would be dumb.
Or is it just a fig leaf of respectability for people who want to hate on trans folks?
In my generation , kids turned into "goths" and let it play out ,,,,,,,,,, most outgrew this phase . I cant tell you how many are more then arrow "straight decades later
A very good therapist, psychologist or psychiatrist who knows about transgendered therapy that is not connected to a for profit gender transition clinic could probably help.
Two that I know of that could at least make a recommendation:
Over on Twitter there's a person claiming to be her child. Making claims including Emily telling him to stuff it when he asked for consideration/changes. Now he's got a GoFundMe to raise money for lawyers, he says Bari and Emily are suing him.
He's getting tons and tons of support. He's raised $7K of $10K on GFM so far.
Personally, this smells real fishy to me.
Anyone else following this?
(Apologies if this has already been noted in this forum, I don't have time to look through 600+ comments.)
You am not on Twitter so I haven’t seen what you referenced about the go fund me. I keep waiting for an update from the free press but nothing so far...
What is truly sad is the big lie of transgenderism is you can change the sex you were born as. It's the delusion those with Dysphoria carve and are convinced is possible and it is only after years of so called affirmation surgery and drug treatments that transfers realize it was all a lie.
Of course this doesn't even come close to the physical and mental child abuse that occurs when (generally) mothers with Munchausen syndrome by proxy, seek attention by compelling their prepubescent children they suffer from sexual dysphoria without the children even understanding even the concept of gender.
The end result is confused individual, convinced they have sexual dysphoria, which by definition, whether real or imagined, result in depression and suicidal ideation. Add to that zealots convincing them they are being oppressed by anyone that questions affirmation as a treatment, and suicidal Ideation mixed with anti depressants, which are universally prescribed to transgender individuals, can easily evolve into homicidal ideation.
In the end I am reminded of the religious writing in of the book of Enoch. It talks about angels/demons coming down from the heavens and mating with humans. It created a duality half human half something else. It evolved from wanting to acquire power (occultism, tarot, devil worship) to circumvent our attachments to the patterns of nature. Today we use these same powers, but we call them technology, modern medicine, and the internet. While these powers are not evil unto itself, any time one wants to use power to to disassociate from the patterns of nature, it doesn't end well. When we separate ourselves from the patterns of nature (or Gods will), or what nature intended us to be, the end result is a Satanist utopia, were the sole purpose is to separate ourselves from nature, which turns us into half human/ half something else.
You have to understand that if you are a hammer, then everything becomes a nail. These people do not know what normal is , and what is not. They are willing to irreversibly mutilate children, give them harmful hormones, to people who do not yet have a stable foundation to be able to decide what is what next week, let alone what is going to happen for the rest of their lives. I've seen this in other fields of medicine, and until somebody says stop, it will only get worse.
These clinic people need to be stopped. NOW. As educated medical professionals they must know that gender dysphoria is primarily a mental disorder, and should be treated as such. There are no easy fixes in the real world, unless you belong to one of these clinics. Instead they are leaving a wide swath of rubber stamping diagnosis, treatment and irreversible destruction wherever their presence occurs.
What really puzzles me, is how we've gone through eons of development , progress and enlightenment, and all of a sudden this "Gender Dysphoria" is a major problem in the United States. Seems to me that they're creating more problems than they are solving. By a long shot! Future generations will be left to mop this up, but only after many lives has been ruined.
As you probably know, the teenager ("Casey" in this article) spoke up on twitter saying that they disagreed with the article. Yet I read through their tweets (they are calling themselves Alex on twitter) and found that most of what the mother is saying is corroborated by Alex (AKA "Casey"). The only thing they disagree with the mother about is the time of onset of depression and the degree of depression after being put on puberty blockers. Alex is saying that they are upset that the clinic stopped access to therapy once the mother requested that the hormones/puberty blockers be stopped. Yet, that is not the fault of the mother. Why did the clinic stop therapy once the teen was off drugs? Speaks to a subliminal form of coercion that forces gender questioning teens onto puberty blockers and hormones.
Of course, at 16, Alex probably isn't aware of the financial and political realities of getting access to medical care. At some point, they will be in for a rude awakening.
I know from having to find a therapist for my own teenager that therapy for a teenager is hard to find and very expensive. It is rarely covered by insurance. What is going on here? Why is therapy only available when a teenager is on the path to lifelong medicalization? The answer is obvious to me.
I am in healthcare and I am absolutely shocked and appalled at what “medical professionals” are doing to these kids. IMHO NO ONE should do any of this until adulthood and I am not talking 18 either. I’m talking after many years of counseling before taking dangerous life altering drugs and permanently changing one’s body. I have met a few transgender people (men to women) and I can say that while they were “nice people” they were very emotionally screwed up. We absolutely need laws banning underage treatment.
This organization needs to be criminally prosecuted. How is that not happening? As sad and disgusting as this whole saga is, I also blame the parents ( and yes Mom) for allowing the initial implant. Any parent knows, or should know, that a 14 yo child has no idea how to make decisions of this magnitude. Seems like Mom got religion at the end with her comments relating to such but the (such) damage had/has been done. Lots of blame to go around but overall just a sad and preventable set of circumstances that could have protected Casey from all of this pain and suffering.
I have reinstalled Twitter to respond to this story and make sure my voice is fully heard. I am Casey.
My real name is Alex but my mom decided it would be best to hide it for anonymity. But this is my story, not hers. This is not the free press’s story.
and Aaron Sibarium responded to the claims journalist malpractice
The thread—by someone with a vested interest in debunking the story—ends up corroborating the most important things in it, including the child’s decline in mental health and the doctors’ minatory invocation of suicide.
Yes. I read through Alex's tweets. The only thing that they disagree with the mother about is the degree of the depression after being put on puberty blockers.
Parents- remember that Health Director of the County Health Department and also at the state capitol are responsible for child medical outcomes. Doctors have no “psychological assessment” (tool) to separate Trans from non-Trans. If it existed, it would be documented in the patent medical record. Parents need to say to MD- “What is the name of the psychological assessment used to prove my child is Trans? Show me where it is documented in my child’s medical record.” You can quote me.
I read this piece yesterday, and then today saw that the subject, Casey/Alex, refuted portions of it on Twitter. While every work of journalism is subject to social media attacks and responding to every critic is not necessary, given the centrality of Casey/Alex to the story, I think a response to the response is in order. I'm not interested in a pissing match between the two, just an assurance that I can trust what I'm reading. I'm a big fan of The Free Press and its content; that fandom hinges continuously upon the understanding that its reporting is accurate, and that it acknowledges mistakes when they are made (I'm not suggesting there are mistakes in this story).
P.S. - Bari and Nellie are a lovely couple, but if they ever divorce I call dibs on Nellie.
2. The degree of depression after taking puberty blockers
3. The fact that they did not have more control over what was printed by Yoffe
4. This:
"mother withdrew consent for puberty blockers which, they argue, "made everything worse."
She says when her mom revoked consent for the drug, she lost access to counseling with the Washington University transgender care center, which had been crucial to her mental health up until that point. “I was treated amazingly by my counselor,” she wrote. “She was a friend to me and offered a great amount of support.”
It is not the fault of the mother than Washington University withdrew access to the counselor when the mother withdrew consent for puberty blockers. It is the fault of Washington University. Why is getting access to counselling contingent on taking puberty blockers at this clinic?
None of the journalists who are crying foul about this article explore the mother's concerns about the medical and social effects of being put on puberty blockers.
I am sure many parents who have dealt with an anxious, depressed, oppositional teen in the midst of puberty see here a teen who is unable to assess the degree of their own depression. It is very common for teenagers to default to oppositional behavior against at least one parent. Sadly, most of the people unquestionably taking the teenager's side here probably haven't been through the experience of parenting a teenager.
I logged out of twitter three years ago because I found the environment too emotionally loaded and angry.
I saw that tweet too. Most of the tweets are from anonymous accounts. None of these twitter people are required by law to pay for "Casey"/Alex's medical care. None of these twitter people are required by law to act in the best interest of their child to the best of their ability. None of these twitter people will be around in five years when "Casey"/Alex hopefully is accepted to a good university and finds out that paying for university is very expensive. None of these twitter people will be around in 15 or 20 years when "Casey"/Alex starts thinking about starting their own family.
Not saying that "Casey"/Alex will want to have their own children, but the fact that they are talking about adoption means that somewhere vaguely in the back of their mind, they haven't decided not to have children.
I had one or two university friends that absolutely did not want to have children and didn't. But this is not common.
Adopting is very expensive and very difficult. Most people see this or that Hollywood star adopt or have children through donor eggs and surrogacy. What is not mentioned is that the Hollywood star probably paid the birth/surrogate mother an exorbitant sum. Costs of donor eggs and surrogacy are easily in excess of $100K per child.
I am sympathetic to both "Casey"/Alex in this story, and to the mother. To Alex I would say: your mom is likely to be doing her best in a tough situation. She may have made some mistakes. Still, you are young. You can be non-binary without puberty blockers or hormones. I hope you get access to an excellent therapist without having to be on blockers, hormones or surgery. Wishing you the best, Alex.
Seeing as this article revolves around the mother's feelings and not the actual patient, I searched online to see if I could find out more from the viewpoint of the kid. Color me shocked (not really) to find out that, allegedly, this article was published against the child's wishes, and that it doesn't faithfully portray their account of things. (I'm not really shocked because TFP has established a pattern of publishing articles that contribute to the marginalization of trans people.)
If TFP actually wants to live up to their promise of "transparency, honesty, and integrity," then they should probably give this kid a chance to tell their side of this story. If TFP is really about "getting to the truth," then that would be appropriate, right?
These “gender-affirming” medical practitioners are using the same high pressure sales techniques as the worst used car salesmen. Their fear-mongering combined with lies of omission and commission are only to score a sale, regardless of the irreversible horrors inflicted on the customer.
We owe so much to Bari and Nellie and the FreePress team for their courage and commitment.
So let me see if I'm understanding this correctly:
1) The mother acknowledges her child was struggling with depression and anxiety BEFORE starting hormone blockers.
2) The child, Casey, says that they were experiencing depression before starting the blockers. 3) There isn't any evidence that the blockers were the cause of a worsening depression for Casey.
It sounds to me like the mom just has a lot of antipathy about her child transitioning and decided that the center was the bad guy here.
My kid tried to do this at 15. I put her in real therapy (at real financial risk for the therapist) and took away her phone and internet for several months. Funny how when her other mental issues were addressed and resolved, so to was the trans identity. It took 2+ years for this to happen, but worth every penny. And, she's got ADHD and ASD tendencies. Surprise, surprise. So much of what the child in this article said I heard from mine. "I'll just adopt" was a popular response. These kids are taught a script. It's maddening. I didn't affirm and I avoided the gender clinic like it was full of the plague. They aren't old enough to make these decisions. They have no idea how much life will change, how much they will change - priorities, wishes, wants. Why puberty is being medicalized, I'll never understand, except it seems to validate the fetishes of middle-aged men and makes a lot of someones a LOT of money.
Is the point here that these complaints by these people represents the experience of all people and families under such treatment? Because that would be dumb.
Or is it just a fig leaf of respectability for people who want to hate on trans folks?
When you are a hammer, the world is made out of nails.
In my generation , kids turned into "goths" and let it play out ,,,,,,,,,, most outgrew this phase . I cant tell you how many are more then arrow "straight decades later
Caroline is still thinking there are professionals that can help. Run. I don’t trust any of them now. Good for Missouri AG
A very good therapist, psychologist or psychiatrist who knows about transgendered therapy that is not connected to a for profit gender transition clinic could probably help.
Two that I know of that could at least make a recommendation:
1. Erica Anderson, Psychologist, based in Northern California (https://www.mind-diagnostics.org/listing/97815-Erica-Elizabeth-Anderson)
2. Dr. Susan Bradley, Psychiatrist, based in Toronto, retired professor from the University of Toronto
Over on Twitter there's a person claiming to be her child. Making claims including Emily telling him to stuff it when he asked for consideration/changes. Now he's got a GoFundMe to raise money for lawyers, he says Bari and Emily are suing him.
He's getting tons and tons of support. He's raised $7K of $10K on GFM so far.
Personally, this smells real fishy to me.
Anyone else following this?
(Apologies if this has already been noted in this forum, I don't have time to look through 600+ comments.)
You am not on Twitter so I haven’t seen what you referenced about the go fund me. I keep waiting for an update from the free press but nothing so far...
What is truly sad is the big lie of transgenderism is you can change the sex you were born as. It's the delusion those with Dysphoria carve and are convinced is possible and it is only after years of so called affirmation surgery and drug treatments that transfers realize it was all a lie.
Of course this doesn't even come close to the physical and mental child abuse that occurs when (generally) mothers with Munchausen syndrome by proxy, seek attention by compelling their prepubescent children they suffer from sexual dysphoria without the children even understanding even the concept of gender.
The end result is confused individual, convinced they have sexual dysphoria, which by definition, whether real or imagined, result in depression and suicidal ideation. Add to that zealots convincing them they are being oppressed by anyone that questions affirmation as a treatment, and suicidal Ideation mixed with anti depressants, which are universally prescribed to transgender individuals, can easily evolve into homicidal ideation.
In the end I am reminded of the religious writing in of the book of Enoch. It talks about angels/demons coming down from the heavens and mating with humans. It created a duality half human half something else. It evolved from wanting to acquire power (occultism, tarot, devil worship) to circumvent our attachments to the patterns of nature. Today we use these same powers, but we call them technology, modern medicine, and the internet. While these powers are not evil unto itself, any time one wants to use power to to disassociate from the patterns of nature, it doesn't end well. When we separate ourselves from the patterns of nature (or Gods will), or what nature intended us to be, the end result is a Satanist utopia, were the sole purpose is to separate ourselves from nature, which turns us into half human/ half something else.
You have to understand that if you are a hammer, then everything becomes a nail. These people do not know what normal is , and what is not. They are willing to irreversibly mutilate children, give them harmful hormones, to people who do not yet have a stable foundation to be able to decide what is what next week, let alone what is going to happen for the rest of their lives. I've seen this in other fields of medicine, and until somebody says stop, it will only get worse.
These clinic people need to be stopped. NOW. As educated medical professionals they must know that gender dysphoria is primarily a mental disorder, and should be treated as such. There are no easy fixes in the real world, unless you belong to one of these clinics. Instead they are leaving a wide swath of rubber stamping diagnosis, treatment and irreversible destruction wherever their presence occurs.
What really puzzles me, is how we've gone through eons of development , progress and enlightenment, and all of a sudden this "Gender Dysphoria" is a major problem in the United States. Seems to me that they're creating more problems than they are solving. By a long shot! Future generations will be left to mop this up, but only after many lives has been ruined.
As you probably know, the teenager ("Casey" in this article) spoke up on twitter saying that they disagreed with the article. Yet I read through their tweets (they are calling themselves Alex on twitter) and found that most of what the mother is saying is corroborated by Alex (AKA "Casey"). The only thing they disagree with the mother about is the time of onset of depression and the degree of depression after being put on puberty blockers. Alex is saying that they are upset that the clinic stopped access to therapy once the mother requested that the hormones/puberty blockers be stopped. Yet, that is not the fault of the mother. Why did the clinic stop therapy once the teen was off drugs? Speaks to a subliminal form of coercion that forces gender questioning teens onto puberty blockers and hormones.
Of course, at 16, Alex probably isn't aware of the financial and political realities of getting access to medical care. At some point, they will be in for a rude awakening.
I know from having to find a therapist for my own teenager that therapy for a teenager is hard to find and very expensive. It is rarely covered by insurance. What is going on here? Why is therapy only available when a teenager is on the path to lifelong medicalization? The answer is obvious to me.
I am in healthcare and I am absolutely shocked and appalled at what “medical professionals” are doing to these kids. IMHO NO ONE should do any of this until adulthood and I am not talking 18 either. I’m talking after many years of counseling before taking dangerous life altering drugs and permanently changing one’s body. I have met a few transgender people (men to women) and I can say that while they were “nice people” they were very emotionally screwed up. We absolutely need laws banning underage treatment.
This organization needs to be criminally prosecuted. How is that not happening? As sad and disgusting as this whole saga is, I also blame the parents ( and yes Mom) for allowing the initial implant. Any parent knows, or should know, that a 14 yo child has no idea how to make decisions of this magnitude. Seems like Mom got religion at the end with her comments relating to such but the (such) damage had/has been done. Lots of blame to go around but overall just a sad and preventable set of circumstances that could have protected Casey from all of this pain and suffering.
Her son/daughter's response
I have reinstalled Twitter to respond to this story and make sure my voice is fully heard. I am Casey.
My real name is Alex but my mom decided it would be best to hide it for anonymity. But this is my story, not hers. This is not the free press’s story.
and Aaron Sibarium responded to the claims journalist malpractice
The thread—by someone with a vested interest in debunking the story—ends up corroborating the most important things in it, including the child’s decline in mental health and the doctors’ minatory invocation of suicide.
https://twitter.com/aaronsibarium/status/1643383490736422913?s=20
Yes. I read through Alex's tweets. The only thing that they disagree with the mother about is the degree of the depression after being put on puberty blockers.
Parents- remember that Health Director of the County Health Department and also at the state capitol are responsible for child medical outcomes. Doctors have no “psychological assessment” (tool) to separate Trans from non-Trans. If it existed, it would be documented in the patent medical record. Parents need to say to MD- “What is the name of the psychological assessment used to prove my child is Trans? Show me where it is documented in my child’s medical record.” You can quote me.
I read this piece yesterday, and then today saw that the subject, Casey/Alex, refuted portions of it on Twitter. While every work of journalism is subject to social media attacks and responding to every critic is not necessary, given the centrality of Casey/Alex to the story, I think a response to the response is in order. I'm not interested in a pissing match between the two, just an assurance that I can trust what I'm reading. I'm a big fan of The Free Press and its content; that fandom hinges continuously upon the understanding that its reporting is accurate, and that it acknowledges mistakes when they are made (I'm not suggesting there are mistakes in this story).
P.S. - Bari and Nellie are a lovely couple, but if they ever divorce I call dibs on Nellie.
Read the tweets of Alex:
Here is what they disagree with the mother about:
1. The date of onset of depression.
2. The degree of depression after taking puberty blockers
3. The fact that they did not have more control over what was printed by Yoffe
4. This:
"mother withdrew consent for puberty blockers which, they argue, "made everything worse."
She says when her mom revoked consent for the drug, she lost access to counseling with the Washington University transgender care center, which had been crucial to her mental health up until that point. “I was treated amazingly by my counselor,” she wrote. “She was a friend to me and offered a great amount of support.”
It is not the fault of the mother than Washington University withdrew access to the counselor when the mother withdrew consent for puberty blockers. It is the fault of Washington University. Why is getting access to counselling contingent on taking puberty blockers at this clinic?
None of the journalists who are crying foul about this article explore the mother's concerns about the medical and social effects of being put on puberty blockers.
I am sure many parents who have dealt with an anxious, depressed, oppositional teen in the midst of puberty see here a teen who is unable to assess the degree of their own depression. It is very common for teenagers to default to oppositional behavior against at least one parent. Sadly, most of the people unquestionably taking the teenager's side here probably haven't been through the experience of parenting a teenager.
I logged out of twitter three years ago because I found the environment too emotionally loaded and angry.
I saw that tweet too. Most of the tweets are from anonymous accounts. None of these twitter people are required by law to pay for "Casey"/Alex's medical care. None of these twitter people are required by law to act in the best interest of their child to the best of their ability. None of these twitter people will be around in five years when "Casey"/Alex hopefully is accepted to a good university and finds out that paying for university is very expensive. None of these twitter people will be around in 15 or 20 years when "Casey"/Alex starts thinking about starting their own family.
Not saying that "Casey"/Alex will want to have their own children, but the fact that they are talking about adoption means that somewhere vaguely in the back of their mind, they haven't decided not to have children.
I had one or two university friends that absolutely did not want to have children and didn't. But this is not common.
Adopting is very expensive and very difficult. Most people see this or that Hollywood star adopt or have children through donor eggs and surrogacy. What is not mentioned is that the Hollywood star probably paid the birth/surrogate mother an exorbitant sum. Costs of donor eggs and surrogacy are easily in excess of $100K per child.
I am sympathetic to both "Casey"/Alex in this story, and to the mother. To Alex I would say: your mom is likely to be doing her best in a tough situation. She may have made some mistakes. Still, you are young. You can be non-binary without puberty blockers or hormones. I hope you get access to an excellent therapist without having to be on blockers, hormones or surgery. Wishing you the best, Alex.
I’m curious as well about their response to this response... I’d like to see something from tfp.