Transgender youth

Transgender youth are children or adolescents who do not identify with the gender associated with the sex they were assigned at birth. Because transgender youth usually depend on their parents for care, shelter, financial support, and other needs, they face different challenges than transgender adults. According to the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, appropriate care for transgender youth may include supportive mental health care, social transition, and/or puberty blockers, which delay puberty and the development of secondary sex characteristics to allow children more time to explore their gender identity.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, most children have a stable sense of their gender identity by age four, and research substantiates that children who are prepubertal and assert a transgender or gender-diverse identity know their gender as clearly and consistently as their developmentally equivalent peers who identify as cisgender and benefit from the same level of social acceptance. A 2022 review found that most pre-pubertal children who socially transition persist in their identity in 5- to 7-year follow-ups. Gender dysphoria is likely to be permanent if it persists during puberty.