Teen hits back after mum shares fake news about puberty blockers: ‘This is my story, not hers’
Trans teenager Alex has refuted many of the claims made in the article. (Getty)
A transgender teenager has shamed journalists for writing a story about her use of puberty blockers that she claims was published without her consent.
Sixteen-year-old Alex accused journalists at The Free Press of going against her wishes after publishing an article that details her transition.
Alex says that her mother, Caroline, contacted journalist Emily Yoffe a week before, detailing her “frustration” with a trans clinic at Washington University.
Caroline claimed that doctors “pushed” her into consenting to an implant of supprelln, a puberty blocker, for Alex.
Alex denies any pressure on her.
PinkNews has contacted both Emily Yoffe and The Free Press for comment.
“This is my story, not hers,” Alex said in a Twitter thread. “This is not the Free Press’ story.
“The article makes out that my mother had no say in the implant of the supprelin. This is completely false.”
A supprelin implant is a way to deliver regular doses of puberty blockers to a patient, and is placed under the skin on the upper arm.
After discovering that her mother had contacted the paper, Alex said she asked Yoffe if she could read a draft version of the story.
After being given a copy, Alex said she was “disgusted” with what she read, but was told she had no say in whether it would be published or not.
“I asked if my consent was required to publish the article and the reporter told me, ‘That’s not how these things work’.”
In the story, which routinely misgenders Alex, Caroline claimed that, during a psychiatric consultation, a psychologist quoted an undefined statistic regarding suicidal thoughts in trans youth.
Alex refutes several of the puberty blocker claims made
According to a recent study by The Trevor Project, more than 50 per cent of queer and trans young people in the US considered suicide in 2022.
“I do not deny that these statistics were quoted, but I also sustain that the doctors didn’t say that I was at substantial risk of this,” Alex said.
“Speaking of mental health, the article claims that my mental health issues can be attributed to the supprelin implant. However, my personal experience shows that this is not the case.
“Since [the COVID-19 pandemic], my mental health has been declining, and it was already an issue [prior to being administered supprelin].”
Studies last year found that receiving gender-affirming care is beneficial for trans youths’ mental health.
According to research published in the JAMA Open Network, puberty blockers can mitigate depressive tendencies by 60 per cent, and suicidal thoughts can be diminished by 73 per cent over a year.
Other studies have corroborated this, with one in 2021 showing that gender-affirming care can have a significantly positive impact on mental health in the long term.
Alex alleged that the mental-health support she was receiving from the Washington University care centre was revoked shortly after her mother rescinded consent for the puberty blockers.
“I was treated amazingly by my counsellor, she was a friend to me and offered a great amount of support. This was taken away when my mom revoked consent for the supprelin.
“After she revoked consent, my father and I, along with the university, attempted to set up a meeting with my mom. She did not attend this meeting, claiming that she was not contacted. Later, she admitted that she was.”
