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Lost in Trans Nation: A Child Psychiatrist's Guide Out of the Madness
Throughout our country, atrocities are taking place in doctor’s offices and hospital operating rooms. Physically healthy children and adolescents are being permanently disfigured and sometimes sterilized. Those youth say they’re transgender, and we—their parents, teachers, therapists, and doctors—are supposed to agree with their self-diagnosis and take a back seat as they make the most consequential decision of their lives: to alter their bodies in order to, we are told, “align” them with their minds.
Medical, educational, and government authorities advise us to support the “gender journeys” of still developing kids, including medical interventions with poor evidence of long-term improvement.
This would not be acceptable in any other field of medicine. Indeed, the treatments our medical authorities and Washington call “crucial” and “life-saving” have been banned in progressive Sweden, Finland, and Britain.
Dr. Miriam Grossman is a child and adolescent psychiatrist whose practice consists of trans-identified youth and their families. In Lost in TransNation, she implores parents to reject the advice of gender experts and politicians and trust their guts—their parental instincts—in the face of an onslaught of ideologically driven misinformation that steers them and their children toward risky decisions they may end up mourning for the rest of their lives.
The beliefs that male and female are human inventions; that the sex of a newborn is arbitrarily “assigned”; and that as a result the child requires “affirmation” through medical interventions—these ideas are divorced from reality and therefore hazardous, especially to children. The core belief—that biology can and should be denied—is a repudiation of reality and a mockery of what hard science teaches about being male and female.
Dr. Grossman believes that parents know their child best; they especially know if they have a son or daughter. But currently in our country when it comes to gender identity, everyone knows better than mom and dad. Schools enable students to live double lives—Patrick at home, Patti at school. Activists tell kids their loving homes are “unsafe” when parents voice doubts about the child’s new identity. For refusing to see their son as their daughter, parents might be reported to protective services, a development that can lead to a family’s destruction.
Lost in TransNation arms parents with the ammunition to avoid, or, if necessary, fight what many families describe as the most difficult challenge of their lives. Parents will learn what to say and how—at home, at school, and if necessary, to police when they appear at the door.
“Don’t be blindsided like so many parents I know,” warns Grossman, “be proactive and get educated. Feel prepared and confident to discuss trans, nonbinary, or whatever your child brings to the dinner table.” Whether it’s the “trans is as common as red hair” claim, or the “I’m not your son, I’m your daughter” proclamation, or the “do you prefer a live son or a dead daughter’ threat, says Grossman, no family is immune, and every parent must be prepared.
No child is born in the wrong body, Dr. Grossman reassures us, their bodies are just fine; it’s their emotional lives that need healing. Whether you’re facing a gender identity battle in your home right now, or want to prevent one, you need this book to guide you and your loved ones out of the madness.
Medical, educational, and government authorities advise us to support the “gender journeys” of still developing kids, including medical interventions with poor evidence of long-term improvement.
This would not be acceptable in any other field of medicine. Indeed, the treatments our medical authorities and Washington call “crucial” and “life-saving” have been banned in progressive Sweden, Finland, and Britain.
Dr. Miriam Grossman is a child and adolescent psychiatrist whose practice consists of trans-identified youth and their families. In Lost in TransNation, she implores parents to reject the advice of gender experts and politicians and trust their guts—their parental instincts—in the face of an onslaught of ideologically driven misinformation that steers them and their children toward risky decisions they may end up mourning for the rest of their lives.
The beliefs that male and female are human inventions; that the sex of a newborn is arbitrarily “assigned”; and that as a result the child requires “affirmation” through medical interventions—these ideas are divorced from reality and therefore hazardous, especially to children. The core belief—that biology can and should be denied—is a repudiation of reality and a mockery of what hard science teaches about being male and female.
Dr. Grossman believes that parents know their child best; they especially know if they have a son or daughter. But currently in our country when it comes to gender identity, everyone knows better than mom and dad. Schools enable students to live double lives—Patrick at home, Patti at school. Activists tell kids their loving homes are “unsafe” when parents voice doubts about the child’s new identity. For refusing to see their son as their daughter, parents might be reported to protective services, a development that can lead to a family’s destruction.
Lost in TransNation arms parents with the ammunition to avoid, or, if necessary, fight what many families describe as the most difficult challenge of their lives. Parents will learn what to say and how—at home, at school, and if necessary, to police when they appear at the door.
“Don’t be blindsided like so many parents I know,” warns Grossman, “be proactive and get educated. Feel prepared and confident to discuss trans, nonbinary, or whatever your child brings to the dinner table.” Whether it’s the “trans is as common as red hair” claim, or the “I’m not your son, I’m your daughter” proclamation, or the “do you prefer a live son or a dead daughter’ threat, says Grossman, no family is immune, and every parent must be prepared.
No child is born in the wrong body, Dr. Grossman reassures us, their bodies are just fine; it’s their emotional lives that need healing. Whether you’re facing a gender identity battle in your home right now, or want to prevent one, you need this book to guide you and your loved ones out of the madness.
362 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 18, 2023
237 people are currently reading
2216 people want to read
About the author
Miriam Grossman
7 books119 followersDr. Grossman earned her medical degree from New York University, did an internship in pediatrics at Beth Israel Hospital in New York City, and completed a residency in psychiatry followed by a fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry at North Shore Hospital – Cornell University Medical College.
She writes that "(f)or twelve years, she was on the staff of UCLA’s Student Counseling Services, where nearly all her patients were students in their late teens and twenties. Because of this demographic, and no doubt also because of what’s now called the 'hook-up culture', many students who ended up in my office had a history of genital infections, one or more abortions, possible exposure to HIV, and other troublesome consequences of sexual activity, whether “protected’ or not."
She writes that "(f)or twelve years, she was on the staff of UCLA’s Student Counseling Services, where nearly all her patients were students in their late teens and twenties. Because of this demographic, and no doubt also because of what’s now called the 'hook-up culture', many students who ended up in my office had a history of genital infections, one or more abortions, possible exposure to HIV, and other troublesome consequences of sexual activity, whether “protected’ or not."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 127 reviews
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August 17, 2023"The beliefs that male and female are human inventions; that the sex of a newborn is arbitrarily “assigned”; and that as a result the child requires “affirmation” through medical interventions—these ideas are divorced from reality and therefore hazardous, especially to children. The core belief—that biology can and should be denied—is a repudiation of reality and a mockery of what hard science teaches about being male and female."
One review, not on GR, says, "It is hateful that such pseudo-science as this book is allowed to be published." That got me interested.
Where I live, there are plenty of gays, that battle got fought late, in the 90s, but it's not an issue of any kind now. My son's best friend and his boyfriend just came down for carnival and stayed at his parents' house. Progress for the very fundamentalist, Christian Caribbean! Trans hasn't happened here among the youth, black or white.
And I wonder how with the explosion in numbers in the West how much is really genuine and in every generation there have been hundreds of thousands of repressed people, or... if it is, like so many things are, from hippies to goths to whatever it is now I am too out of touch to even name, youth movements where the kids just seek to be different from the older generation and identify with a tribe that they consider really cool?
There are a few transpeople here on the island though, but much older 50s and 60s and local, and so the respect they earned in their previous persona has simply transferred to how they are now. Surely if a certain percentage of people are trans, that it is part of human nature, it should have happened here too? That a similar percentage of kids would also be declaring themselves trans. But it hasn't happened at all. Maybe it will, just take a while longer.
I'm not against medical affirmation, just against irrevocable medical intervention on children we consider too young to consent to any other medical procedure.
So anyway I bought the book. Now I have to read it (or sell it!)
One review, not on GR, says, "It is hateful that such pseudo-science as this book is allowed to be published." That got me interested.
Where I live, there are plenty of gays, that battle got fought late, in the 90s, but it's not an issue of any kind now. My son's best friend and his boyfriend just came down for carnival and stayed at his parents' house. Progress for the very fundamentalist, Christian Caribbean! Trans hasn't happened here among the youth, black or white.
And I wonder how with the explosion in numbers in the West how much is really genuine and in every generation there have been hundreds of thousands of repressed people, or... if it is, like so many things are, from hippies to goths to whatever it is now I am too out of touch to even name, youth movements where the kids just seek to be different from the older generation and identify with a tribe that they consider really cool?
There are a few transpeople here on the island though, but much older 50s and 60s and local, and so the respect they earned in their previous persona has simply transferred to how they are now. Surely if a certain percentage of people are trans, that it is part of human nature, it should have happened here too? That a similar percentage of kids would also be declaring themselves trans. But it hasn't happened at all. Maybe it will, just take a while longer.
I'm not against medical affirmation, just against irrevocable medical intervention on children we consider too young to consent to any other medical procedure.
So anyway I bought the book. Now I have to read it (or sell it!)
August 19, 2023
It's shit.
July 30, 2023
I finished this book today and am suggesting it to all my parent friends. Dr. Grossman writes about such an evil subject with compassion and firmness. It is not all doom and gloom she gives such great advice to parents about how to navigate dealing with schools, CPS, as well as practical things to do to keep your child from the gender madness. However, I'd read this book with caution and make sure to read it slowly and stop a lot. It is not an easy read. The things she wrote about gave me a physical reaction at times as well as had me crying.
I look forward to looking at all the studies and research she has listed. I highly recommend this for all parents to read.
I look forward to looking at all the studies and research she has listed. I highly recommend this for all parents to read.
March 6, 2024
Books like these are why trans people die. What a disgusting misrepresentation of reality. This MD should have their license revoked. People like JP should not have platforms at all. It's 2024, and we are still dwelling in this embarrassing iteration of consciousness.
July 31, 2023
Book Review
Lost in Transnation
5+/5 stars
"A great book, and a keeper; Instruction manual how to not get caught up with Strange White People Insanity/Inanity."
********
Of the book:
-229 pages of prose over 13 chapters plus one conclusion works≈16 pps/chapter.
-Another 55 pages in appendices dealing with the topics: i) Biology 101, ii) Key scientific papers, iii) Dealing with schools, iv) Dealing with CPS, v) Finding a therapist, vi) Guide to internet accountability tools, viii) Responses to international parent survey.
-NOT carefully edited. Occasional spelling mistakes. (Overall organization is still pretty good, in spite of that.)
-1-1.5 days of reading time (≈5 hours)
*******
I learned / recapitulate many things from this book. Selected observations:
1. If you have Strange White People indulging in some silliness, it takes a lot of leg work to NOT get involved in their stupidity.
2. Diagnoses in the DSM only depend on what people believe, and not necessarily any hard clinical/biological evidence.
3. Another purpose of the DSM is to create Insurance billable codes for diagnosis. So, Gender Identity Disorder-- > Gender Dysphoria --> Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria. (Remember that only 0.02% of people have clinical gender dysphoria.)
4. Once gay marriage became a thing in 2015, you had a lot of lobbying organizations that no longer had jobs. Transgender lobbying was a logical next step.
5. Early Onset Gender Dysphoria (Jazz Jennings)≠ "Rapid Onset" Gender Dysphoria. Rapid onset can reverse just as fast as it comes on. 80 to 98% of young kids will later experience desistance (p.121).
6. The cases of Bonnie Manchester and Jessica Tapia show that it is not only in deep blue school districts that teachers are obligated to lie to parents about their children's gender identity.
7. The surgical elements of this transitioning are pretty gruesome (it ain't what it looks like on TV!). Especially for the "bottom surgery." If you have a faux vagina made, you can get ready for a lot of time spent dilating and a lot of infections. If you have a faux todger made, you can also get ready for a lot of infections and very slow (≈10 minute) urination. When Jazz Jennings had her bottom surgery, it was made to look all cute for TV--but in reality, there were lots of surgeries that had to be done and redone. Sample stories: ("Seven surgeries, pulmonary embolism, and induce stressed heart attack, sepsis, 17-month recurring infection, 16 rounds of antibiotics, 3 weeks of daily IV antibiotics, arm reconstructive surgery, $1 million in medical expenses......." [p. 180] AND "Dilations? Awful! Why do I have to feel that my anus is about to disintegrate? Why does the labia have to burn so much every time I dilate? And every six hours every day?" [p. 176]).
8. A phalloplasty meta-analysis found that over three quarters of patients had complications, and almost a third experienced urethral fistulas, and a quarter experienced urethral stricture (p.182).
*******
It has elements of other books that I have read:
1. "Big Fat Surprise." This is the case where you have somebody who is a very forceful advocate for a position that turns out to be wrong, and that position ultimately becomes mainstream when it is received by some government officials. So, Ansel Keys= John Monsey= Iago.
2. "Irreversible Damage," Abigail Shirier. Transgenderism these days is an epidemic of (bored, white, upper middle class) teenage girls.
3. ("True Believer" by Eric Hoffer/ Countless other books/ day to day experience). This is the case where you have Strange White People turning the entire world into a self-actualization project. So, John Monsey has problems with his sexual orientation and goes about the business of transforming the world.
4. ("Antigfragile"/ "Coddling of the American Mind") Some members of civilization somewhere are too comfortable and they generate conflicts to tear themselves apart.
5. ("When Harry Became Sally") it covers much of the same ground, but it lacked the insider's perspective of a physician and the gory details of transgender surgery.
6. ("Burden of Bad Ideas"). It happens quite frequently that academics' stupidity spills out of academia into the real world and with DISASTROUS effects.
******
Second Order Thoughts:
1. I can see this going in one of two ways. The first is that enough lawsuits get pressed by detransitioners and liability/malpractice insurance brings these butchers to heel.
Or the second is that it will go down as a fad that just (mostly) wears itself out-- like Multiple Personality Disorder / Bullshit Freudian Psychology. Some medical mistakes have been very purposely forgotten (Tuskegee experiments, thalidomide, lobotomies to cure mental illness--which, apparently, received a Nobel prize [p.225].)
2. What is my strategy:
a. My kids go to a parochial/ religious school, and we don't have to deal with that bullshit there. That situation has already arisen in our school (some girl decided she wanted to be a boy) and it was summarily dismissed from the school, even though its mother was an attorney. (For the record: It only takes a one sentence declaration to convert to Islam, and I don't think you even have to be Catholic to go to Catholic schools. Homeschooling is a nuclear option.)
b. No television in the house, and Xbox is limited to one hour per day 6 days a week.
c. Sometimes if you have kids, then no matter what you do they just turn out wrong--and so more is better so that if one is not recoverable, then you have others to focus on. We have a sufficient number of sons that if one of them played the "Dead Son, Live Daughter" game with me, then I have no problem with putting him out and no regrets if he really followed through with the suicide threat. (If he was that nuts, it would probably be the best thing for him anyway.)
3. This author does not make it part of the book, but it is pretty clear that she is an Orthodox Jew--with all of the verbal and intellectual elegance that one would expect with that designation.
The first clue was (p.108) where she created an imaginary dialogue between a parent, a Trans Crusader Physician and a Trans Crusader Therapist. (This is a very old Talmudic thought technique.)
What really let the cat out of the bag was the gematria-flavored commentary, complete with the words "אמת" and "שקר".
4. The best expression that was used in this book over and over again was "We Don't Know." And it is true that everybody talks about something as being settled science when there are no papers that talk about it (such as [p.119] the long-term effect of social affirmation on people with "rapid onset gender dysphoria" , or how pausing puberty affects the development of the child's prefrontal cortex / amygdala / any other part of the brain [p.71]).
5. What is something that kids get from deciding to be trans? "I am listened to. I'm special. I'm getting so much attention at home and school. Adults are making big changes for me" (p. 120).
6. Damn (!), Jennifer Pritzker is ONE. UGLY. HUMAN. BEING.
Quotes:
-(p.106): "The hospital will crystallize Oliver in Emma's mind, instead of focusing on the cyberbullying, emotional dysregulation, and other issues that lead to her self-injury."
-(p.63): "One teenager came to us when he was 17 years old and living in a lockdown facility because he had been sexually abusing dogs. Somewhere along the way, he expressed his desire to become female, so he ended up being seen at our center."
-(p.195): "Too many believe this is all about compassion, respect, and rights. That's a cover. The goal had always been the breakdown of norms. To push the limits further and further. How does the endpoint look? That's the point - - there is no endpoint. The thrill is in pushing beyond the acceptable."
Vocabulary:
Psychosaexual neutrality
paraphilia (=neutral term for "perversion")
minority stress model
desistance (=grow out of it)
runaway diffusion
thermal synchrony
Lost in Transnation
5+/5 stars
"A great book, and a keeper; Instruction manual how to not get caught up with Strange White People Insanity/Inanity."
********
Of the book:
-229 pages of prose over 13 chapters plus one conclusion works≈16 pps/chapter.
-Another 55 pages in appendices dealing with the topics: i) Biology 101, ii) Key scientific papers, iii) Dealing with schools, iv) Dealing with CPS, v) Finding a therapist, vi) Guide to internet accountability tools, viii) Responses to international parent survey.
-NOT carefully edited. Occasional spelling mistakes. (Overall organization is still pretty good, in spite of that.)
-1-1.5 days of reading time (≈5 hours)
*******
I learned / recapitulate many things from this book. Selected observations:
1. If you have Strange White People indulging in some silliness, it takes a lot of leg work to NOT get involved in their stupidity.
2. Diagnoses in the DSM only depend on what people believe, and not necessarily any hard clinical/biological evidence.
3. Another purpose of the DSM is to create Insurance billable codes for diagnosis. So, Gender Identity Disorder-- > Gender Dysphoria --> Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria. (Remember that only 0.02% of people have clinical gender dysphoria.)
4. Once gay marriage became a thing in 2015, you had a lot of lobbying organizations that no longer had jobs. Transgender lobbying was a logical next step.
5. Early Onset Gender Dysphoria (Jazz Jennings)≠ "Rapid Onset" Gender Dysphoria. Rapid onset can reverse just as fast as it comes on. 80 to 98% of young kids will later experience desistance (p.121).
6. The cases of Bonnie Manchester and Jessica Tapia show that it is not only in deep blue school districts that teachers are obligated to lie to parents about their children's gender identity.
7. The surgical elements of this transitioning are pretty gruesome (it ain't what it looks like on TV!). Especially for the "bottom surgery." If you have a faux vagina made, you can get ready for a lot of time spent dilating and a lot of infections. If you have a faux todger made, you can also get ready for a lot of infections and very slow (≈10 minute) urination. When Jazz Jennings had her bottom surgery, it was made to look all cute for TV--but in reality, there were lots of surgeries that had to be done and redone. Sample stories: ("Seven surgeries, pulmonary embolism, and induce stressed heart attack, sepsis, 17-month recurring infection, 16 rounds of antibiotics, 3 weeks of daily IV antibiotics, arm reconstructive surgery, $1 million in medical expenses......." [p. 180] AND "Dilations? Awful! Why do I have to feel that my anus is about to disintegrate? Why does the labia have to burn so much every time I dilate? And every six hours every day?" [p. 176]).
8. A phalloplasty meta-analysis found that over three quarters of patients had complications, and almost a third experienced urethral fistulas, and a quarter experienced urethral stricture (p.182).
*******
It has elements of other books that I have read:
1. "Big Fat Surprise." This is the case where you have somebody who is a very forceful advocate for a position that turns out to be wrong, and that position ultimately becomes mainstream when it is received by some government officials. So, Ansel Keys= John Monsey= Iago.
2. "Irreversible Damage," Abigail Shirier. Transgenderism these days is an epidemic of (bored, white, upper middle class) teenage girls.
3. ("True Believer" by Eric Hoffer/ Countless other books/ day to day experience). This is the case where you have Strange White People turning the entire world into a self-actualization project. So, John Monsey has problems with his sexual orientation and goes about the business of transforming the world.
4. ("Antigfragile"/ "Coddling of the American Mind") Some members of civilization somewhere are too comfortable and they generate conflicts to tear themselves apart.
5. ("When Harry Became Sally") it covers much of the same ground, but it lacked the insider's perspective of a physician and the gory details of transgender surgery.
6. ("Burden of Bad Ideas"). It happens quite frequently that academics' stupidity spills out of academia into the real world and with DISASTROUS effects.
******
Second Order Thoughts:
1. I can see this going in one of two ways. The first is that enough lawsuits get pressed by detransitioners and liability/malpractice insurance brings these butchers to heel.
Or the second is that it will go down as a fad that just (mostly) wears itself out-- like Multiple Personality Disorder / Bullshit Freudian Psychology. Some medical mistakes have been very purposely forgotten (Tuskegee experiments, thalidomide, lobotomies to cure mental illness--which, apparently, received a Nobel prize [p.225].)
2. What is my strategy:
a. My kids go to a parochial/ religious school, and we don't have to deal with that bullshit there. That situation has already arisen in our school (some girl decided she wanted to be a boy) and it was summarily dismissed from the school, even though its mother was an attorney. (For the record: It only takes a one sentence declaration to convert to Islam, and I don't think you even have to be Catholic to go to Catholic schools. Homeschooling is a nuclear option.)
b. No television in the house, and Xbox is limited to one hour per day 6 days a week.
c. Sometimes if you have kids, then no matter what you do they just turn out wrong--and so more is better so that if one is not recoverable, then you have others to focus on. We have a sufficient number of sons that if one of them played the "Dead Son, Live Daughter" game with me, then I have no problem with putting him out and no regrets if he really followed through with the suicide threat. (If he was that nuts, it would probably be the best thing for him anyway.)
3. This author does not make it part of the book, but it is pretty clear that she is an Orthodox Jew--with all of the verbal and intellectual elegance that one would expect with that designation.
The first clue was (p.108) where she created an imaginary dialogue between a parent, a Trans Crusader Physician and a Trans Crusader Therapist. (This is a very old Talmudic thought technique.)
What really let the cat out of the bag was the gematria-flavored commentary, complete with the words "אמת" and "שקר".
4. The best expression that was used in this book over and over again was "We Don't Know." And it is true that everybody talks about something as being settled science when there are no papers that talk about it (such as [p.119] the long-term effect of social affirmation on people with "rapid onset gender dysphoria" , or how pausing puberty affects the development of the child's prefrontal cortex / amygdala / any other part of the brain [p.71]).
5. What is something that kids get from deciding to be trans? "I am listened to. I'm special. I'm getting so much attention at home and school. Adults are making big changes for me" (p. 120).
6. Damn (!), Jennifer Pritzker is ONE. UGLY. HUMAN. BEING.
Quotes:
-(p.106): "The hospital will crystallize Oliver in Emma's mind, instead of focusing on the cyberbullying, emotional dysregulation, and other issues that lead to her self-injury."
-(p.63): "One teenager came to us when he was 17 years old and living in a lockdown facility because he had been sexually abusing dogs. Somewhere along the way, he expressed his desire to become female, so he ended up being seen at our center."
-(p.195): "Too many believe this is all about compassion, respect, and rights. That's a cover. The goal had always been the breakdown of norms. To push the limits further and further. How does the endpoint look? That's the point - - there is no endpoint. The thrill is in pushing beyond the acceptable."
Vocabulary:
Psychosaexual neutrality
paraphilia (=neutral term for "perversion")
minority stress model
desistance (=grow out of it)
runaway diffusion
thermal synchrony
August 24, 2023
One of the best books on this topic.
Why is Denmark, Sweden, England, and other countries backing away from affirmative care while America is racing forward still? This book is FULL of thoughtfully researched information. This is not a “no boys in girls bathrooms” one level argument. (Even if that is figured out, we are still allowing people to mutilate themselves with unproven medical treatments). We need to look at all of the ways this has become a pandemic.
Why is Denmark, Sweden, England, and other countries backing away from affirmative care while America is racing forward still? This book is FULL of thoughtfully researched information. This is not a “no boys in girls bathrooms” one level argument. (Even if that is figured out, we are still allowing people to mutilate themselves with unproven medical treatments). We need to look at all of the ways this has become a pandemic.
December 11, 2024
This was one of the more disturbing books that I have read.
Reading about the long term effects of transgender surgeries is blood curdling. Setting aside the sterilization and the removal of healthy organs and tissues, there are other effects that are simply terrifying and make you question whether all the surgeons involved in these procedures are sadists. Take phalloplasties, 75% of the women who have these surgeries experience bladder disfunction afterwards. Either they lose the ability to urinate because of strictures, causing intense pain and infections, or they lose the ability to stop urinating and leak throughout the day. Can you imagine the pain and humiliation that would entail? Not being able to control your own ability to pee? For the rest of your life? Having to wear adult diapers for decades? Smelling like urine all the time? Incontinence is a terrible, humiliating thing that puts strain on your relationships, on your self esteem, on your quality of life. But have you ever heard this mentioned as a possibility? No, forget possibility, 75% is a probability.
That’s just one likely problem to one surgery, but transition usually requires multiple surgeries. If we keep talking about female to male transitions, then you have things like hysterectomies, which can result in menopausal problems like osteoporosis in young women, or mastectomies, which permanently make it impossible to breastfeed. Even if we don’t consider surgeries and their permanent effects there are the effects caused by testosterone, such as osteoporosis, baldness, a higher likelihood of heart attacks. That last is not a small change, either, it’s 4 times more likely!
Why would we allow this? Undergoing a surgery should improve your health outcomes. It should be a last ditch effort to fix something, and it should prevent further health interventions, it shouldn’t necessitate more. If surgeries make someone’s overall health worse, then they shouldn’t be done and the doctors should be sued for malpractice.
Reading about how politics has infused medical associations and how the evidence that informs their guidelines is so shallow also makes my blood boil. I am in the field of humanities and education, and I always rant about the problems in the research in those fields: small sample sizes, biased sampling, motivated reasoning, confirmation bias, lack of control groups, groups receiving multiple interventions without teasing apart the effects of each, unreplicability, the proclivity to publish only positive results, to name a few. But to read and see how these are also happening in the medical field is utterly terrifying. At least in the education field, the only negative issue that affects the students is a decrease in what they learn, in the medical field it affects their ability to live! If you base your medical intervention on faulty research, you could kill someone. Medical care should be based on the best kind of research: double blind, randomized trials, that are not based on self reports, but on measurable outcomes, where those who received the care have follow up interviews for decades to see what the long term effects are. That’s the gold standard, but there are so few of them, it’s utterly terrifying.
I learned a lot from this book, including some stuff about breasts that I had no idea about! Did you know that if your baby is running a fever, your breasts will cool down? That if your baby’s body temperature is low, your breasts will warm up? That’s so cool! I enjoyed the after matter as well, including the discussion of how to write truth and falsehood in Hebrew. It appealed to my linguistic self.
On the other hand, I found this book to be disappointing. When a book is written about an important topic, I feel that it has a higher standard that it needs to be held to and this one fails to reach such a standard. It’s poorly edited. There are typos. There are words missing. There are spacing issues, especially in the further research section. The organization meanders around. The anonymization of patients seems to have some issues, as the same patient is referred to with multiple names as though they forgot to replace the original name, or as though they decided they didn’t like one pseudonym and replaced it with another only to forget halfway which one was which. The tone is unprofessional. I was annoyed with the author demeaning and addressing people directly in this book that are clearly never going to read it. I think that’s a shallow and facetious technique that is more to lift up the author's self esteem rather than actually addressing a problem. It’s very easy to win an argument with a straw man that you construct in your head, it’s very difficult to do it with a real person, so the constructed conversations were irritating to me.
That’s not to say that this is a bad book, or a uninformative book, or a badly researched book, it’s none of those things. It’s just not as good as I would have hoped it was. The long term effects of transgender surgeries and affirming care is an incredibly important topic, and I just wish this had matched my expectations for excellence more.
Reading about the long term effects of transgender surgeries is blood curdling. Setting aside the sterilization and the removal of healthy organs and tissues, there are other effects that are simply terrifying and make you question whether all the surgeons involved in these procedures are sadists. Take phalloplasties, 75% of the women who have these surgeries experience bladder disfunction afterwards. Either they lose the ability to urinate because of strictures, causing intense pain and infections, or they lose the ability to stop urinating and leak throughout the day. Can you imagine the pain and humiliation that would entail? Not being able to control your own ability to pee? For the rest of your life? Having to wear adult diapers for decades? Smelling like urine all the time? Incontinence is a terrible, humiliating thing that puts strain on your relationships, on your self esteem, on your quality of life. But have you ever heard this mentioned as a possibility? No, forget possibility, 75% is a probability.
That’s just one likely problem to one surgery, but transition usually requires multiple surgeries. If we keep talking about female to male transitions, then you have things like hysterectomies, which can result in menopausal problems like osteoporosis in young women, or mastectomies, which permanently make it impossible to breastfeed. Even if we don’t consider surgeries and their permanent effects there are the effects caused by testosterone, such as osteoporosis, baldness, a higher likelihood of heart attacks. That last is not a small change, either, it’s 4 times more likely!
Why would we allow this? Undergoing a surgery should improve your health outcomes. It should be a last ditch effort to fix something, and it should prevent further health interventions, it shouldn’t necessitate more. If surgeries make someone’s overall health worse, then they shouldn’t be done and the doctors should be sued for malpractice.
Reading about how politics has infused medical associations and how the evidence that informs their guidelines is so shallow also makes my blood boil. I am in the field of humanities and education, and I always rant about the problems in the research in those fields: small sample sizes, biased sampling, motivated reasoning, confirmation bias, lack of control groups, groups receiving multiple interventions without teasing apart the effects of each, unreplicability, the proclivity to publish only positive results, to name a few. But to read and see how these are also happening in the medical field is utterly terrifying. At least in the education field, the only negative issue that affects the students is a decrease in what they learn, in the medical field it affects their ability to live! If you base your medical intervention on faulty research, you could kill someone. Medical care should be based on the best kind of research: double blind, randomized trials, that are not based on self reports, but on measurable outcomes, where those who received the care have follow up interviews for decades to see what the long term effects are. That’s the gold standard, but there are so few of them, it’s utterly terrifying.
I learned a lot from this book, including some stuff about breasts that I had no idea about! Did you know that if your baby is running a fever, your breasts will cool down? That if your baby’s body temperature is low, your breasts will warm up? That’s so cool! I enjoyed the after matter as well, including the discussion of how to write truth and falsehood in Hebrew. It appealed to my linguistic self.
On the other hand, I found this book to be disappointing. When a book is written about an important topic, I feel that it has a higher standard that it needs to be held to and this one fails to reach such a standard. It’s poorly edited. There are typos. There are words missing. There are spacing issues, especially in the further research section. The organization meanders around. The anonymization of patients seems to have some issues, as the same patient is referred to with multiple names as though they forgot to replace the original name, or as though they decided they didn’t like one pseudonym and replaced it with another only to forget halfway which one was which. The tone is unprofessional. I was annoyed with the author demeaning and addressing people directly in this book that are clearly never going to read it. I think that’s a shallow and facetious technique that is more to lift up the author's self esteem rather than actually addressing a problem. It’s very easy to win an argument with a straw man that you construct in your head, it’s very difficult to do it with a real person, so the constructed conversations were irritating to me.
That’s not to say that this is a bad book, or a uninformative book, or a badly researched book, it’s none of those things. It’s just not as good as I would have hoped it was. The long term effects of transgender surgeries and affirming care is an incredibly important topic, and I just wish this had matched my expectations for excellence more.
July 30, 2023
The intended audience for this book is parents and I appreciate how Dr. Grossman provided a very helpful resource. I am curious to read some of the studies and dig deeper.
October 5, 2024
Dr. Grossman writes a no-nonsense guide that every parent of a minor or a 20-something should read. If you forgot your science and biology education, she will remind you of it. She also shows how the affirmation model is a dangerous idea that is infecting social media, our schools, and the medical system. Homes and families are being torn apart, and Dr. Grossman will fortify you as to what you can do about it. Education is the first step, and that can be achieved by reading this science-based book. The appendix has suggestions of how to deal with schools, Child Protective Services, and she also shows you how to find a therapist and employ internet accountability tools. This book is packed with power. Thank you Dr. Grossman for sharing your wisdom and experience!
August 6, 2023
An excellent and necessary read for anyone who loves children and is looking to arm themselves for the culture war happening all around us.
August 12, 2023
A must read for all parents. What the medical establishment, education elite, and social media is doing to kids is shocking. The description of the surgeries is also shocking. Why anyone would do these things is beyond comprehension and yet kids are convinced it's the only option. Literal experimentation on a vulnerable population. These poor children will have life long, permanent consequences. Read this book to protect children.
September 3, 2023
“To begin with, there is no reason to assume that physicians, et al., would be particularly less prone than any other class of persons to fall prey to the blandishments of demented ideologues, and there is some evidence to suggest that they may in fact be more rather than less likely to participate in the perpetration of political and other forms of horror.”
Read and be aware. Reality is a nice place to live.
Read and be aware. Reality is a nice place to live.
March 3, 2024
Must-read. Doesn’t matter who you are, the subject matter is highly relevant for all sectors of the world.
March 28, 2024
*For an extensive cringe-filled experience, please check out my annotated highlights*
Alright, a while back I gave this a rough look-over and slapped on a very brief negative review without going into too much details. The opening chapters were a slog, and with a DNF I returned the book and moved on. Now that I’ve returned to actually finish it this time, I want to give an expanded review.
TLDR: It’s a bad book, but uniquely homophobic and dabbling with conservatism without *saying* it’s conservative. It’s hypocritical in who has authority over who, and who’s allowed to have autonomy and who’s allowed to have their every move put under a microscope. Long review ahead, this is your warning.
I need to start by addressing the elephant in the room. This is the first anti-trans book that I’ve read that I can comfortably say is explicitly conservative. Now, I’m aware that other anti-trans books rub elbows with conservatives, but there’s still an air of ‘oh, we’re bridging both sides of the political spectrum, and in fact, many of us are lefties!’, but this book is so steeped in right-wing stances that it’s hard to ignore.
There’s not only the continual jab at trans people, but also at sex ed, abortions, and the non-religious. The sparse annotations of ‘look, this person was left, but now they’re suddenly working with conservatives because this issue is so damning!’, but when I actually look up these people, there’s not really evidence that speaks on that. Moreover, Grossman fails to mention how religion may alter how one sees LGBT people, and there’s no critical thought of why many of the detransitioners mentioned in the book are converted Catholics.
I also need to emphasize that this book is homophobic without it outright saying it. I know anti-trans books use the same rhetoric as anti-gay literature back in the day, but many of them will go out of their way of defending gay rights and suggest that it is actually trans rights that get in the way of their progress. This book, however, doesn’t want to jump the extra hurdle to say that.
Grossman implies throughout that it’s not ‘just’ trans orgs and people trying to ‘recruit’ - It’s LGB people/orgs too. She says to steer teens away from the GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance, typically an after school club for queer youth), and that “It would have helped me to know that nothing in queer ideology is innocent or haphazard. Its operation is that of a sect and its purpose is to add followers.”. She says the Trevor Project is trying to ‘groom’ kids and isolate them from their parents on the basis that the website has an ‘emergency close tab’ feature (something she fails to recognize as something youth in unsafe and homophobic households desperately need).
The following quote is beat for beat something homophobes have been saying about gay rights, and it’s right here in this book, completely unironically:
“Too many believe this is all about compassion, respect, and rights. That’s a cover. The goal has always been the breakdown of norms. To push the limits further and further. How does the endpoint look? That’s the point— there is no endpoint. The thrill is in pushing beyond the acceptable.”
Another few choice quotes that is just completely mask-off:
“Think of all these groups as satellites of a mothership called GLSEN— pronounced “glisten”—formerly the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network. They’ve been laying siege to our educational system since 1990.”
“A priority is recruiting students. This is done through GSA clubs and teacher indoctrination, of course, but also through school programs— always clothed in the language of respect, civil rights, and freedom.”
‘Laying siege’, ‘breakdown of norms’, ‘indoctrination’, ‘recruitment’, ‘grooming’- Grossman uses this language and far more disparaging words not just at trans people, but gay, lesbian, and bisexual people too. Grossman openly boasts that the usage of military language and considering countering (LGB)T people a necessity. This is done with no self awareness or a shred of irony.
Theres also an extended section dedicated to subverting CPS and how to isolate your child as much as possible as opposed to, say, talking transparently about internet safety, stranger danger, and how to fact check claims. The part where she asks parents to force schools to promise they won’t allow *social workers or counselors* to speak to their kid is…well, it’s alarming to say the least. I don’t doubt there are parents with good intentions but I also know controlling, manipulative, and cruel parents will take this information and run, and that’s dangerous.
Something that is the hypocritical nature of how Grossman sees herself versus how the ‘opposition’ is. Autistic people can’t be trans, because they’re ‘black and white thinking’ completely clouds their judgement and essentially renders them as hapless babies being snatched by the evil trans activists. Autistic people can’t see nuances and the ‘grey’ areas in between complex issues (🙄). Grossman when she describes herself, however:
“For me this is a black-and-white issue. Most things in life are nuanced, but this is not one of them. This is—and here’s a word you don’t expect from a doctor—evil.”
Trans people aren’t allowed to call out transphobia or the fact that our culture often facilitates the social, economical, and legal discrimination. War against trans people? What war? People aren’t ‘scared’ of trans people, why say ‘transphobic’? Meanwhile, Grossman:
“I use military terms intentionally. The trans issue is not a debate with reasonable and moral people on both sides, it’s a war. It’s a destructive, cult-like crusade that targets your children 24/7.”
Throughout the book, there’s not only painfully poor citations to why trans people should not be allowed to medically transition (many of these citations actually encouraging transition, just as long as psychiatric help and social support is provided), but a constant hammering at the reader that any and all trans people are Bad and Sick and Dangerous and if your kid is near them they will ‘turn’ them.
Yeah, that’s not stirring up a moral panic in the slightest, no ma’am.
Grossman tries desperately to appeal to authority- ‘Look, I’m a lady with a lot of diplomas! I’m old, that means I’m wise.’.
However, throughout the book she makes it transparent on just how limited her research skills are. She often states ‘pansexual’ in comparison to ‘gender-queer’, which doesn’t really make sense, as one is a sexuality and one is a gender identity. She also doesn’t elaborate on what ‘pansexual’ means, in case the reader may be seeing it for the first time. Theres a lot of terms she throws around without elaboration, which I’m assuming is an attempt to throw off the reader and leave them confused just before pouncing them with a barrage of ‘scares’.
A good summary of how well Grossman researched this book:
“In my own quest to understand the bizarre evolution of gender identity, I discovered the process would require studying [she lists several waves of social movements, feminism, social, queer, and gender theories]. That’s not going to happen. I’m not going to pretend I even know what any of those are.”
I’m not sure why you would write a book about a group of people who’s lives are shaped by social and cultural conditions and how they, as a marginalized group, are treated if you’re not going to bother skimming at least the first couple papers you see that elaborate these issues.
Theres more to say, but much of it would be repeats of my other reviews of anti-trans books, such as “When Kids Say They’re Trans”, “Irreversible Damage”, “Parents with Inconvenient Truths About Trans”, and “Gender Madness”. The points on John Money, how expensive medical care is, how, yes, even mentally ill people can be trans, are all points repeated in the other books I mentioned.
To be clear: No trans person on planet Earth likes John Money (even trans people decades ago criticized him!), nobody wants any medical care to be absurdly expensive and it would be ideal to make medical costs cheap or free, and to claim mentally ill people on any level should have limited autonomy on the basis of a diagnosis is absurd and quite frankly cruel.
That’s it for my review. I do recommend checking the annotated highlights because I have a lot more to say and I have also thrown in some citations of my own that believe are worth checking out.
It’s a bad book y’all lol.
Alright, a while back I gave this a rough look-over and slapped on a very brief negative review without going into too much details. The opening chapters were a slog, and with a DNF I returned the book and moved on. Now that I’ve returned to actually finish it this time, I want to give an expanded review.
TLDR: It’s a bad book, but uniquely homophobic and dabbling with conservatism without *saying* it’s conservative. It’s hypocritical in who has authority over who, and who’s allowed to have autonomy and who’s allowed to have their every move put under a microscope. Long review ahead, this is your warning.
I need to start by addressing the elephant in the room. This is the first anti-trans book that I’ve read that I can comfortably say is explicitly conservative. Now, I’m aware that other anti-trans books rub elbows with conservatives, but there’s still an air of ‘oh, we’re bridging both sides of the political spectrum, and in fact, many of us are lefties!’, but this book is so steeped in right-wing stances that it’s hard to ignore.
There’s not only the continual jab at trans people, but also at sex ed, abortions, and the non-religious. The sparse annotations of ‘look, this person was left, but now they’re suddenly working with conservatives because this issue is so damning!’, but when I actually look up these people, there’s not really evidence that speaks on that. Moreover, Grossman fails to mention how religion may alter how one sees LGBT people, and there’s no critical thought of why many of the detransitioners mentioned in the book are converted Catholics.
I also need to emphasize that this book is homophobic without it outright saying it. I know anti-trans books use the same rhetoric as anti-gay literature back in the day, but many of them will go out of their way of defending gay rights and suggest that it is actually trans rights that get in the way of their progress. This book, however, doesn’t want to jump the extra hurdle to say that.
Grossman implies throughout that it’s not ‘just’ trans orgs and people trying to ‘recruit’ - It’s LGB people/orgs too. She says to steer teens away from the GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance, typically an after school club for queer youth), and that “It would have helped me to know that nothing in queer ideology is innocent or haphazard. Its operation is that of a sect and its purpose is to add followers.”. She says the Trevor Project is trying to ‘groom’ kids and isolate them from their parents on the basis that the website has an ‘emergency close tab’ feature (something she fails to recognize as something youth in unsafe and homophobic households desperately need).
The following quote is beat for beat something homophobes have been saying about gay rights, and it’s right here in this book, completely unironically:
“Too many believe this is all about compassion, respect, and rights. That’s a cover. The goal has always been the breakdown of norms. To push the limits further and further. How does the endpoint look? That’s the point— there is no endpoint. The thrill is in pushing beyond the acceptable.”
Another few choice quotes that is just completely mask-off:
“Think of all these groups as satellites of a mothership called GLSEN— pronounced “glisten”—formerly the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network. They’ve been laying siege to our educational system since 1990.”
“A priority is recruiting students. This is done through GSA clubs and teacher indoctrination, of course, but also through school programs— always clothed in the language of respect, civil rights, and freedom.”
‘Laying siege’, ‘breakdown of norms’, ‘indoctrination’, ‘recruitment’, ‘grooming’- Grossman uses this language and far more disparaging words not just at trans people, but gay, lesbian, and bisexual people too. Grossman openly boasts that the usage of military language and considering countering (LGB)T people a necessity. This is done with no self awareness or a shred of irony.
Theres also an extended section dedicated to subverting CPS and how to isolate your child as much as possible as opposed to, say, talking transparently about internet safety, stranger danger, and how to fact check claims. The part where she asks parents to force schools to promise they won’t allow *social workers or counselors* to speak to their kid is…well, it’s alarming to say the least. I don’t doubt there are parents with good intentions but I also know controlling, manipulative, and cruel parents will take this information and run, and that’s dangerous.
Something that is the hypocritical nature of how Grossman sees herself versus how the ‘opposition’ is. Autistic people can’t be trans, because they’re ‘black and white thinking’ completely clouds their judgement and essentially renders them as hapless babies being snatched by the evil trans activists. Autistic people can’t see nuances and the ‘grey’ areas in between complex issues (🙄). Grossman when she describes herself, however:
“For me this is a black-and-white issue. Most things in life are nuanced, but this is not one of them. This is—and here’s a word you don’t expect from a doctor—evil.”
Trans people aren’t allowed to call out transphobia or the fact that our culture often facilitates the social, economical, and legal discrimination. War against trans people? What war? People aren’t ‘scared’ of trans people, why say ‘transphobic’? Meanwhile, Grossman:
“I use military terms intentionally. The trans issue is not a debate with reasonable and moral people on both sides, it’s a war. It’s a destructive, cult-like crusade that targets your children 24/7.”
Throughout the book, there’s not only painfully poor citations to why trans people should not be allowed to medically transition (many of these citations actually encouraging transition, just as long as psychiatric help and social support is provided), but a constant hammering at the reader that any and all trans people are Bad and Sick and Dangerous and if your kid is near them they will ‘turn’ them.
Yeah, that’s not stirring up a moral panic in the slightest, no ma’am.
Grossman tries desperately to appeal to authority- ‘Look, I’m a lady with a lot of diplomas! I’m old, that means I’m wise.’.
However, throughout the book she makes it transparent on just how limited her research skills are. She often states ‘pansexual’ in comparison to ‘gender-queer’, which doesn’t really make sense, as one is a sexuality and one is a gender identity. She also doesn’t elaborate on what ‘pansexual’ means, in case the reader may be seeing it for the first time. Theres a lot of terms she throws around without elaboration, which I’m assuming is an attempt to throw off the reader and leave them confused just before pouncing them with a barrage of ‘scares’.
A good summary of how well Grossman researched this book:
“In my own quest to understand the bizarre evolution of gender identity, I discovered the process would require studying [she lists several waves of social movements, feminism, social, queer, and gender theories]. That’s not going to happen. I’m not going to pretend I even know what any of those are.”
I’m not sure why you would write a book about a group of people who’s lives are shaped by social and cultural conditions and how they, as a marginalized group, are treated if you’re not going to bother skimming at least the first couple papers you see that elaborate these issues.
Theres more to say, but much of it would be repeats of my other reviews of anti-trans books, such as “When Kids Say They’re Trans”, “Irreversible Damage”, “Parents with Inconvenient Truths About Trans”, and “Gender Madness”. The points on John Money, how expensive medical care is, how, yes, even mentally ill people can be trans, are all points repeated in the other books I mentioned.
To be clear: No trans person on planet Earth likes John Money (even trans people decades ago criticized him!), nobody wants any medical care to be absurdly expensive and it would be ideal to make medical costs cheap or free, and to claim mentally ill people on any level should have limited autonomy on the basis of a diagnosis is absurd and quite frankly cruel.
That’s it for my review. I do recommend checking the annotated highlights because I have a lot more to say and I have also thrown in some citations of my own that believe are worth checking out.
It’s a bad book y’all lol.
September 5, 2023
No Way To Stress the Importance of This Book!
This is easy to ready, full of helpful tips, and a brief explanation of why we have been lied to about the science that has allowed this destructive ideology to infiltrate so much of our lives.
Just like COVID, the science is bogus. It’s our job to do the research to stand up a fight for our kids. Parents and children are not being informed so there is no way to consent to this mutilation. I love the conversations and tips on how to address many aspects of society and stand up against the madness. I love the appendix chapters. So helpful!
This is easy to ready, full of helpful tips, and a brief explanation of why we have been lied to about the science that has allowed this destructive ideology to infiltrate so much of our lives.
Just like COVID, the science is bogus. It’s our job to do the research to stand up a fight for our kids. Parents and children are not being informed so there is no way to consent to this mutilation. I love the conversations and tips on how to address many aspects of society and stand up against the madness. I love the appendix chapters. So helpful!
August 29, 2023
An excellent book that examines the truth behind the dangerous ideas that have seem to have taken our culture by storm. Filled with stories but more importantly facts, this work helps walk through the lack of evidence for trans "affirming" care as well as how many treatments are being pushed forward without good scientific reason. It also helps make parents aware of how they can respond. Highly recommend.
February 22, 2024
Eye-opening, sickening and graphic, and infuriating. Parents are being outright LIED to while WPATH hides statistics and their outright lack of follow-up, and while plastic surgeons and pharmaceutical companies continue to fill their coffers. This country better wake the hell up cuz our children are being indoctrinated via social media and the corrupt political and medical systems
December 24, 2023
DNF
Heavy topic. Can't have my mind on it for too long. I feel like I'm living in a dystopian world. And also that I may never be equipped to be a parent. It's such a scary world out there.
But also beautiful.
Heavy topic. Can't have my mind on it for too long. I feel like I'm living in a dystopian world. And also that I may never be equipped to be a parent. It's such a scary world out there.
But also beautiful.
September 3, 2023
This book is a MUST READ! Especially for parents, but for anyone working with children today. Don't accept this ideology blindly. Become informed. Decisions that carry lifelong consequences need to be fully explored over time and entered into with FULL knowledge of both risks and benefits.
October 4, 2023
This isn’t an easy subject to read about, and writing isn’t the author’s strong point, but I would encourage parents with children still at home to read it (and pray you never need this information). Gender ideology is a truly destructive modern epidemic among our young people, especially those with other mental health issues, and parents need to be prepared.
Side note: the editing is poor—there are many typos in my copy.
Side note: the editing is poor—there are many typos in my copy.
September 27, 2023
Yeah, NOPE. Trash trash trash
November 29, 2023
One of the most important books I've read in the last two years, with guides for many aspects of society.
January 23, 2024
This is a hard book to write a review for, so I will simply start by saying: this is one of the most important books in our current world right now. In a world where the truth about this ideology is being hidden, while lies are shoved down our throats and into the veins of our children; this book is a must read. Whether you are an upcoming parent, a current parent, or just someone who wants to have knowledge to refer to when this topic undoubtedly comes up in a conversation, this is for you.
I am not a parent, but I know that when the day comes I will be referring to this novel religiously. I will pray that this issue is not prevalent in the world when I bring my child into it, that I will not have to worry about my baby's innocence being squashed by the school system. But I will also be prepared. Right now, the higher ups are taking all the evidence that their words are wrong and tossing it into a burning fire, hoping that we are either too ignorant, cowardly, or brainwashed, to notice the pile of ashes that remain.
Miriam Grossman does a fantastic job at addressing this issue throughout the book. While I thought this would be a book I read a chapter from each day it turned out to be one I had to fight to put down. Even after I set it aside I found my mind constantly remembering what I had read, the newest peice of quesy knowledge I had just gained about this issue. The amount of stuff the medical professionals and government are hiding up all for the sake of money is disgusting.
Dear Lord, we need Your help.
If this book has taught me anything, and it taught me a lot, it is that one can never be unprepared for this topic to reach your front porch because that is what the higher-ups want. They want you to be unprepared. If you are then they can break you down easier, they can ruin everything you hold dear in the blink of an eye.
Do not let them win. Do not give up.
Children come first.
Children are our most precious beings.
God's children are not for sale.
I am not a parent, but I know that when the day comes I will be referring to this novel religiously. I will pray that this issue is not prevalent in the world when I bring my child into it, that I will not have to worry about my baby's innocence being squashed by the school system. But I will also be prepared. Right now, the higher ups are taking all the evidence that their words are wrong and tossing it into a burning fire, hoping that we are either too ignorant, cowardly, or brainwashed, to notice the pile of ashes that remain.
Miriam Grossman does a fantastic job at addressing this issue throughout the book. While I thought this would be a book I read a chapter from each day it turned out to be one I had to fight to put down. Even after I set it aside I found my mind constantly remembering what I had read, the newest peice of quesy knowledge I had just gained about this issue. The amount of stuff the medical professionals and government are hiding up all for the sake of money is disgusting.
Dear Lord, we need Your help.
If this book has taught me anything, and it taught me a lot, it is that one can never be unprepared for this topic to reach your front porch because that is what the higher-ups want. They want you to be unprepared. If you are then they can break you down easier, they can ruin everything you hold dear in the blink of an eye.
Do not let them win. Do not give up.
Children come first.
Children are our most precious beings.
God's children are not for sale.
April 14, 2024
This is an honest look at what transgenderism is, and what it is not; the science is presented dispassionately and critically, which is a big plus; the author vehemently opposes the ready and uncritical availability of invasive medical procedures (a.o. hormones, surgery) for all those who wish to transition as the health risks are many and often irreversible; she emphasizes the need for real care for these young people who, in the main, temporarily weaponize their bodies to more often than not, express their common and all too human fears and needs. For more on the subject, be sure to check out: Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters, What Is a Woman?: One Man's Journey to Answer the Question of a Generation; and on the woke movement: Woke: A Guide to Social Justice and The New Puritans: How the Religion of Social Justice Captured the Western World.
March 6, 2024
This is a highly important book for anyone concerned about the transgender mania. Dr. Grossman gives the history of the movement and how and why so many institutions have succumbed to it despite the harm and the lack of long-term studies. She provides information about why several nations in Europe that led the way on transitioning are outlawing transitioning for young people. She offers guidance on how to talk to children, schools, medical personnel, lawyers and therapists. She has been a practicing psychiatrist for over 40 years. Initially, she rarely encountered patients with gender dysphoria, but now that is primarily the problem parents consult and engage her with. One of the interesting aspects that she provides evidence for is the social mania of much of what is going on, especially among girls. Another aspect is that most of these children and teenagers have had other social and emotional problems before deciding that they are trans. Most of the medical community pushing the trans ideology ignores those other problems, such as being physically or sexually abused, depression, being on the autism spectrum, and others and focus on transitioning as the answer to the problems the kids are having. She clearly and graphically explains what happens to a young person's body when he or she begins taking hormones or has body-changing surgery, and it is not pretty. I highly recommend this book. It is written with ordinary parents in mind.
August 14, 2024
i make a point to read what the opposing viewpoint puts out and this book captures a vast variety of their beliefs, fears, and anxieties. some of what the author says makes sense (trans healthcare puts minors in charge of huge medical decisions in ways they aren’t for other things; let’s allow for more freedom of gender expression without pressure for medical intervention), but others are inaccurate or totally alarmist (schools are indoctrinating your children/if you don’t let them transition cps will take them). the book reads like a handbook for the radical right and shows the cracks in their arguments. it also focuses on the challenges with informed consent too, but those have been discussed at length by medical societies and wpath so it’s not even worth the time to mention here. if you want to see what anti trans youth drs are saying, check it out and know it will be a tough read.
May 10, 2024
“I had beautiful breasts. Now they’re in the incinerator. Thank you, modern medicine”: so laments Miss Chloe Cole, pioneering detransitioner, currently dragging various members and corporate bodies of the medical establishment (including Kaiser Permanente) deservedly through the courts for the barbarities on her when she was a minor. Disturbingly hard to read. Trudging along to educate myself to the trans cult, especially when parents' rights to know are out the door.
Dr. Grossman has provided sources and education so parents can deal with the onslaught of normalization going on in schools and doctors offices.
Dr. Grossman has provided sources and education so parents can deal with the onslaught of normalization going on in schools and doctors offices.
September 19, 2024
Very interesting and very frightening. There’s quite a bit I wanted to know of this side of the transgender coin. Just out of curiosity, and it gave me what I needed.
I’m thankful that I didn’t need to read the appendices (How to deal with a school or with Child Protective Services, etc) but if that’s what’s needed it’s in here too.
I wouldn’t want to be a child, a teen, or a parent in this day and age. Too much has changed. I don’t envy them at all.
Now that I’ve read a book about the challenges I’ll be reading a few uplifting books about the same topic. I can never look at just one side, but I’m hoping to end on a happier note.
I’m thankful that I didn’t need to read the appendices (How to deal with a school or with Child Protective Services, etc) but if that’s what’s needed it’s in here too.
I wouldn’t want to be a child, a teen, or a parent in this day and age. Too much has changed. I don’t envy them at all.
Now that I’ve read a book about the challenges I’ll be reading a few uplifting books about the same topic. I can never look at just one side, but I’m hoping to end on a happier note.
September 16, 2023
Required reading for any parent
This is an essential work of nonfiction by an experienced psychiatrist who carefully explains the history of gender ideology currently sweeping through schools. It gives practical advice to parents on how to protect their troubled children from being automatically affirmed by schools, psychiatrists and doctors, often going down a path to alarming lifelong surgical damage. It's chilling but essential reading especially if you have kids or expect to be having kids in the future. Highly recommend.
This is an essential work of nonfiction by an experienced psychiatrist who carefully explains the history of gender ideology currently sweeping through schools. It gives practical advice to parents on how to protect their troubled children from being automatically affirmed by schools, psychiatrists and doctors, often going down a path to alarming lifelong surgical damage. It's chilling but essential reading especially if you have kids or expect to be having kids in the future. Highly recommend.
December 9, 2023
A very important read especially for parents of young kids who might get confused due to the strong cultural ideology that surrounds them. Dr. Grossman does a wonderful job explaining the dubious roots of gender ideology and the very loose ‘science’ around it as well as the dangers of ‘gender affirming care’. I especially appreciate the biology in this book and the list of physical and psychological negative side effects of denying it.
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