Gender identity issues in children and adolescents.

Gender dysphoria (GD) refers to the significant distress due to the incongruence between assigned gender at birth and experienced gender. Over the last decade, the care for prepubescent children and adolescents with GD is rapidly changing and there is a growing number of specialized gender clinics for youth. However, the offered care between countries is very different and the best clinical practice in this population is still controversial and under debate among dedicated professionals.

The current presentation will focus on providing a clinical picture of children and adolescents referred to gender identity clinics. For prepubescent children the focus will be on the present knowledge about the psychosexual development of these children and treatment & counseling approaches are presented and discussed. With regard to the adolescents, medical treatment approaches are presented and discussed, followed by the results from the only follow-up study on medical treatment in adolescents with GD.