The leading transgender health association suggested at a conference last week that "chemical castration" and "gender-affirming" care can be synonymous in the context of eunuchs.
In a live-streamed session on the World Professional Association for Transgender Health's new controversial "Eunuch" chapter, an endocrinologist described the prescription of GnRH analogues, or puberty blockers, and hormones - when given to "eunuch" patients - as "chemical castration." When a child takes puberty blockers at the first signs of puberty and moves on to cross-sex hormones, they will be sterilized. Still, advocates have rejected the process being described as "chemical castration," instead opting for the euphemism "gender-affirming care."
"So before getting castrated physically, you can actually do a chemical castration, kind of, as a trial," said Dr. Michael Irwig, an endocrinologist who contributed to the chapter. He said he's treated two people who identify as eunuchs.
The comments came amid the debut of new Standards of Care guidelines, which included the unprecedented addition of a chapter that seeks to include "eunuch" under the "transgender umbrella." The inclusion of eunuchs may make it easier for candidates to access castration to "affirm" their "gender identity."
Irwig said a chemical cocktail of hormones and blockers can be used to chemically castrate eunuchs. He did not explicitly say whether dosages for the gender-affirming care of "eunuchs" would be the same as for the treatment of gender dysphoric minors.
via joemiller
