A California pediatrician for transgender children has admitted that the puberty blockers and hormones she gives her young patients can lead to bone disease or infertility, the DailyMail.com can reveal.
Dr. Erin Baroni, a pediatrician and instructor at UCLA who describes herself as TikTok’s “QueerMD,” discussed the drawbacks in a private online workshop for medical students, which DailyMail.com was able to attend.
The side effects of these drugs in young patients are well known, but the doctors who prescribe them rarely publicly discuss the drawbacks, which have become a hot-button issue in US politics.
At the seminar, Dr Baroni said puberty blockers can weaken the bones of trans patients and cause osteoporosis, while sex hormones can render both boys and girls infertile.
“With the concerns about bone density and fertility issues…we don’t see these as things that are contraindications to treatment or something that really hinders treatment,” Dr. Baroni told the students.
Dr. Erin Baroni calls herself the QueerMD for her thousands of TikTok followers
DailyMail.com gained access to a private online Pride Month UCLA seminar attended by dozens of medical students
We “try to outline what we could track: risks, benefits, reversible, irreversible things, and really have a thoughtful conversation about things from a real medical and study standpoint,” she added.
The Los Angeles-based physician said osteoporosis and infertility may not outweigh a trans patient’s other needs.
Patients may be at risk of suicide or unable to go to school because of their sex problems, she said.
“We always consider what’s happening for the individual in the room,” Dr Baroni said.
“How some of these interventions and affirmative things we can do will help that person function better, while also knowing the effects of the treatment.”
Dr. Baroni, who is from Texas, addressed dozens of medical students in an online session hosted by UCLA’s Pritzker Center, which works to improve the health of children and families, as part of Pride month.
She is affiliated with UCLA clinics in Santa Monica and Los Angeles, providing sex reassignment care to patients ages seven to 72. Puberty blockers aren’t used in trans patients until they’re 11 or 12 years old, she said.
Dr. Baroni’s TikTok medical advice channel, QueerMD, has thousands of followers.
The number of young Americans identifying as trans and seeking sex reassignment drugs and surgeries has skyrocketed in recent years, adding fuel to American culture and identity wars between liberals and conservatives.
Proponents of gender-affirming care, as it’s known, say the rise is due to increased awareness of gender dysphoria and support among clinicians.
But some pundits, conservatives and parents warn of an ideologically driven fad.
They also call the treatments “experimental” and warn of debilitating side effects.
Sex reassignment treatments can lead to osteoporosis, a bone disease that develops when bone mineral density and mass decrease
Dr. Erin Baroni treats patients ages seven to 72 and operates out of a clinic in Santa Monica
Milo has stopped taking testosterone and regrets a transition that left her with painful medical problems
England’s National Health Service this month drastically reduced the availability of puberty blockers due to safety concerns – a move that has now been taken by several European health authorities.
In the US, the issue has become a political battle between Democrats and Republicans, who this year passed laws against sex reassignment care for children in 20 states.
Many have been taken to court. A federal judge this month declared the Arkansas law unconstitutional in a historic ruling.
But cases of medical problems are becoming more common.
A young woman named Milo posted an online video this month about how weekly testosterone shots from age 15 left her with an atrophied vagina and that she needed a hysterectomy.
‘It turned out to be a big mistake,’ says Milo, who has decided to ‘detransition’.
In her YouTube post, she speaks of bitter regret over a transition that left her scarred, hairy, and most likely barren.
It is not known exactly how many people change their mind and undergo the transition, but estimates range from 1 to 25 percent of transgender people.
The transition Subreddit, a popular online forum, has about 48,100 followers.