The number of children and adolescents who block puberty with injections for the purpose of sex change is not recorded in Switzerland, indicates the “NZZ am Sonntag”. But there must be a certain number of them, knowing that three quarters of the 713 sex changes – from female to male and from male to female – registered in the civil registry in 2023 concerned people aged 15 to 29, and even children under 15 years old.
Number of sex changes in 2023
In 2023, the Federal Statistical Office counted 332 changes from sex registered “man” to sex registered “woman”, and 381 from “woman” to “man”. Three-quarters of these changes to civil status were made by people aged 15 to 29. Or, in detail:
– 217 people aged 15 to 19 years old
– 199 people aged between 20 and 24 years old
– 117 people aged between 25-29 years old
The OFS also reports 22 minors aged under 15 who changed sex in 2023.
However, this injection, a step prior to sex change, presents health risks, including the risk of developing osteoporosis and a limitation of brain development. It is therefore increasingly criticized – by parents and health professionals – in Switzerland as in Europe. According to them, the injection is done too early, without sufficient prior clarification and sometimes even against the wishes of the parents.
In Switzerland, Urs Eiholzer, pediatric endocrinologist and psychosomatician, recently warned against this treatment in the journal “Swiss Medical Forum”. He observes that young people who question their gender operate today on social networks and in medicine (psychiatrists, endocrinologists and surgeons), “in a transaffirmative bubble where they are simply confirmed in their desire”. Incapable of “reflecting without pressure or influence on their own desire, these trans children could suffer an injustice today for which society will have to apologize in the future,” he fears.
The Swiss Society of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (SSPPEA) also issues reserves and recommends psychotherapeutic support before any medical sex change measure. She is also participating in the discussion on new international guidelines (to be published soon), developed by 27 specialized societies from Switzerland, Germany and Austria which postulate a liberal approach to the use of puberty blockers. But the SSPPEA wants these treatments to only be administered within the framework of clinical studies, and has submitted proposals to this effect to the group of experts.
Preliminary stage of sex change
Puberty blockers – synthetic substances, administered by injection, which delay puberty – are generally a preliminary step to hormonal and surgical sex change. They are given to children and adolescents who feel like their biological sex does not match their perceived one. The injection is supposed to give them the time necessary to clarify their sexual identity before voice change or breast growth is complete, recalls the “NZZ am Sonntag”.
