94 Chapter 5 “I think X [my daughter] understood that [what the treatment with puberty suppression and its (possible) consequences entailed] very well. [...] She did really make a deliberate decision [about whether or not to start treatment with puberty suppression]: ‘this is what I want’.” - Interview with a parent of an assigned female at birth who had discontinued PS; age at start PS: 16.7; age at discontinuation PS: 17.0; age at interview: 19.5 “Especially when it regards gender dysphoria, you [as a clinician] want to hear from that person [who’s having gender incongruent feelings] what that person needs to feel good. And that does not necessarily involve [a treatment with] testosterone and surgery and this and that. So then you need that person to be able to explain ‘well you know, this is what bothers me, and I do not need this [kind of treatment]’. So you need to be able to have a kind of meaningful conversation about that.” - Focus group with clinicians Reversibility of puberty suppression The adolescents had diverging views regarding the way the fact that effects of PS are largely medical reversible influenced their decision-making process. “I think that the fact that it [the effects of the treatment with puberty suppression] was [were] reversible lowered the threshold [to start the treatment]. And I think if it had immediately been about testosterone, then that doubt that subconsciously was already there, might have come to the surface, because that threshold [to start testosterone treatment] would have been higher, so I do not know if I would still have started [the medical treatment] at that point. The fact that it [the effects of the treatment with puberty suppression] was [were] reversible definitely made it much easier for me to just think, yeah, I’m going to do this [start treatment with puberty suppression].” - Interview with an assigned female at birth who had discontinued PS; age at start PS: 16.7; age at discontinuation PS: 17.0; age at interview: 19.5 “I did not care whether it [the effects of the treatment with puberty suppression] was [were] irreversible or not. [...] I did not really think about that at all. It was just something that I wanted so badly, one of my greatest wishes that would finally become true. So no, you do not really think about that. I have had plenty of time beforehand [before I decided about starting the treatment] to think about it [the treatment and (possible) consequences]. They had already given me more than enough information. It was just something that felt right.” - Interview with a transboy who continued PS; age at start PS: 12.0; age at interview: 16.3
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