Trans Individuals Seek Euthanasia After ‘Gender-Affirming Care’

While most progressives insist that the reason that more than 80 percent of self-identified transgender adults have contemplated taking their own lives and 42 percent of them have attempted suicide is due to the stigma and discrimination they have historically faced, the reality is far more complex.

The truth is that transgender individuals are troubled. They suffer from high rates of depression, anxiety, and substance abuse.

At the same time, we are told that the reason for the psychological distress and suicidal ideation within the transgender community is because of people’s inability to “access gender-affirming healthcare.” (VIDEO: Parents Are Being Locked Out of Their Kids’ Medical Records)

However, there are several studies that indicate that the prevalence of suicide attempts is actually elevated among those transgender individuals who are open about their transgender identity and have pursued surgery and a long list of pharmaceutical interventions in their attempt to change their gender. It is difficult not to conclude that the increasing public acceptance of, and encouragement for, “gender-affirming” medical treatment may actually be contributing to the escalating suicide rates within the transgender community.

Self-Identified Trans Individuals Seeking ‘Gender Affirming Care’ Suffer From Suicidal Thoughts

In fact, a 2015 study by researchers at Suffolk University and UMass Boston (funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development) found that of 350 self-identified transgender adults, 64.9 percent reported a history of suicidal ideation and, counter to the progressive’s claim that transitioning from the gender “assigned at birth” to the chosen gender would alleviate depression, the researchers found that, “Trans individuals who were planning to transition, or who had already engaged in the transition process were significantly more likely to report lifetime SI [suicidal ideation] compared with those with no transition plans.” Those individuals in their sample who lived full-time in their “new” gender or pursued medical interventions to transition had greater odds of experiencing thoughts of suicide compared to those with no plan to receive treatment for transitioning. (READ MORE: The Twitter Exile)

And although the Boston researchers attempted to explain away their discouraging data by pointing to the “stressors associated with the transition process, such as disclosure, financial costs, or encountering discrimination within the healthcare settings, [that] might increase the risk for SI [suicidal ideation],” the truth is that there are a growing number of self-identified transgender individuals who regret their decision to transition through surgical or medical interventions. An increasing number are choosing to seek out assistance in ending their lives.

Self-Identified Trans Individuals Seek Euthanasia

The news last month of a 35-year-old male-to-female transgender-identified individual in Canada who requested assistance in dying through Canada’s assisted suicide program because of his unbearable suffering illustrates the pain — both psychological and physiological — endured by many of those who have chosen to engage in surgical transition.

He claimed that the vaginoplasty he experienced in 2009 (which involved inverting the male organ into a neo-vagina) caused “constant pressure, pain and discomfort now, many years after the original surgery.” He requested assisted suicide for the “pain/anxiety related to the neo-vagina for gender affirmation.” Canada’s assisted suicide program is available to adults who have a serious and incurable disease or disability and are in an advanced state of irreversible decline. But the Canadian’s request was denied because he was told that “other treatments could solve her problem.” He was prescribed a “numbing cream” for the pain. Claiming that nothing has ended the pain he has been suffering, the Canadian told reporters for the Daily Mail that the “doctors are more interested in finding out what pronouns she uses than easing her pain.”

Canada may be reluctant to provide access to assisted suicide for self-identified transgender individuals who are suffering because of the reluctance to admit that there are indeed failures and regrets for many following surgical transitioning. But Belgium does not seem to share such concerns. In fact, a 2016 article published in the Journal of Psychiatry by academic researchers from the Ghent University Hospital of Belgium actually appears to encourage euthanasia for those suffering after their surgical procedures. Acknowledging that “a small percentage show regret after their surgical treatment, the Belgian researchers concluded:

As in all patients presenting with constant and unbearable suffering, the possibility of applying euthanasia should be discussed in an open way. Persons with gender dysphoria should not be treated differently in this regard. This could prevent them from committing suicide, which has a more negative impact on surviving relatives compared to euthanasia.

Belgium Could Become Destination for Suicidal Trans Individuals

Failing to appreciate the irony of promoting euthanasia as a way of preventing suicide for self-identified transgender individuals, the Belgian researchers provide a case study of a 62-year-old male-to-female individual who requested euthanasia after 11 surgical operations failed to end the constant neo-vaginal pain and blood loss he continued to experience. During his life, he had several intimate relationships, none of which were satisfactory because of these problems. The researchers concluded that his “demand for euthanasia” was “authentic and well considered.” His general practitioner agreed to act as one of three evaluators, and the other two physicians supported his wish for euthanasia.

Indeed, Belgium seems to be the destination of choice now for transgender suicide tourism. In 2013, Nathan Verhelst, age 44, chose to end her life in Belgium after what the Daily Mail called a “botched sex change operation to complete his transformation into a man left him a ‘monster.’” Born “Nancy,” Nathan began with hormone therapy in 2009, followed by a mastectomy and, finally, an operation to construct male genitalia. The surgery did not work. In the hours before her death, Nathan told Belgian reporters, “I was ready to celebrate my new birth, but when I looked in the mirror, I was disgusted with myself.… I do not want to be … a monster.” (READ MORE: Paganism and the Culture Wars)

It is difficult to predict whether Canada will eventually allow assisted suicide for the intractable pain and suffering that many post-op transgendered individuals experience. It is difficult to admit that “gender-affirming care” is causing such pain. But, it is likely that as these surgical procedures increase, the euthanasia industry in Belgium will become the suicide destination for those who regret the choice to change their gender.

Anne Hendershott is a professor of sociology and director of the Veritas Center at the Franciscan University of Steubenville and author of The Politics of Envy (Crisis Publications).

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