Gender Dysphori Misunderstood. - 1779 Words

Gender Dysphoria: Misunderstood Haley Harrison Ethics 212: Professor Cockerham Research/Critical Thinking Essay December 5, 2015 Gender Dysphoria is a name given to the condition of children who express a gender that is opposite of their biologically given gender. Children and teens who present and verbalize the desire to be of the opposite gender for at least six months are then diagnosed and treated medically. This issue is ethically controversial due to many parents, medical doctors, mental professionals, and myself believing that biological gender identification is not fully understood until puberty has taken place, noticing that children are exposed to transgender terminology and situations on the internet that are persuasive and confusing, and being concerned about the medications used to treat a disorder that can barely be explained and is misunderstood. Medications such as hormone blockers and opposite-sex hormones have become readily available to them without any long term testing. Not only should parents, doctors, professionals, and society be concerned about the safety of these medications, we shoul d be asking ourselves, is gender dysphoria even a medical condition that should be treated with drugs or is it a psychological disorder that should be treated with therapy? Gender Dysphoria is a condition in children and teens that the general population does not understand, however, after doing research I believe the definition of gender dysphoria is