Diagnoses of “gender dysphoria” rose in every state except one over the last several years.
South Dakota was the only state that did not see a rise in gender dysphoria diagnoses between 2018 and 2022, according to new data from Definitive Healthcare.
In fact, South Dakota saw a 23% decrease in gender dysphoria diagnoses, while every other state saw their diagnoses rise by at least 6%.
Last year, South Dakota restricted transgender medical interventions for minors. At least 23 states have similar bans, but they are only currently in effect in 14 states.
South Dakota lawmakers also pushed for such a ban back in 2020, which likely had “the dual chilling effects of reduced access to sympathetic providers and the self-directed seeking of care in states where long-term access was protected,” Definitive Healthcare said.
Virginia saw the steepest rise in gender dysphoria diagnoses at 274%. Indiana was next with a 247% rise, and Utah was third at 193%.
Hawaii had the lowest increase with a 6% rise, followed by Connecticut with a 10% rise.
Other states with bans saw a drop in gender dysphoria diagnoses as well, suggesting that minors may previously have been the ones receiving these diagnoses but are now seeking transgender services elsewhere.
In recent years, many medical professionals have lent their full-throated support to minors receiving puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and in some cases, surgical transitions, which can mean double mastectomies and genital surgery.
Meanwhile, critics have sounded the alarm about the permanent effects of these treatments and procedures, especially on children.
The number of gender surgeries nearly tripled in the U.S. from 2016 to 2019, according to an August analysis published in JAMA Network Open. In 2016, there were about 4,550 procedures, and that number spiked to around 13,000 in 2019.
Hundreds of teen girls in the U.S., some as young as 12, have gotten elective, gender-related double mastectomies to remove their healthy breasts over the last few years.
Both puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones come with serious health risks. Puberty blockers can affect bone growth and density and cause sexual dysfunction, voice damage, and infertility, among other issues. Cross-sex hormones can cause infertility, deadly blood clots, heart attacks, increased cancer risks of the breasts and ovaries, liver dysfunction, worsening psychological illness, and other serious conditions.
Today, it is more popular than ever for youth to adopt new gender identities.
An estimated 300,000 minors aged 13 to 17 identified as transgender as of 2022, and the number has only continued to rise.
Back in 2018, minors made up 17.5% of those being diagnosed with gender dysphoria. By 2022, they made up 20.4% of those diagnoses, which the report suggests could be caused by transgender identities being “more accepted by society.”
Young people are now 18% if the trans-identifying population, up from 10% in 2016. Meanwhile, the percentage of trans-identifying adults has remained the same, previous research from The Williams Institute shows.
About 1.6 million Americans 13 and older now identify as transgender, about 0.5% of the total U.S. population, according to the Definitive Healthcare report.