More FAQs.

We understand that some of our prior research is unpopular with some people. However, none of us has ever done research with the goal of making anyone unhappy, or for that matter making anyone happy. We have all tried to find what is true. All of us also recognize that the path towards truth is sometimes unsteady. We are ready to change our minds if scientific findings challenge our prior beliefs. We will publish the results we find, whether or not they agree with them.

No. The central aim of our study is to learn about the different trajectories starting with adolescent gender dysphoria. How often does gender dysphoria desist? How often does it persist? How often do gender dysphoric adolescents transition? How often do transitioners detransition? For all groups, we will measure life satisfaction and aspects of mental health. We will do this across several years. Our results should be of interest to anyone concerned about gender dysphoria, whether gender-affirming or gender-critical.

We are trying hard to recruit gender dysphoric youth, gender-affirming parents, and gender-critical parents. We know that our research will be more persuasive, the more successful we are at recruiting all these groups. It is possible that we will be more successful with some of them than with others, however. In writing our results, we will attend carefully to this issue, and will mention it as a limitation if necessary. Still, there are many interesting issues that can be investigated with a biased sample.

We are eager for advice and help recruiting the best sample possible. Please contact us if you have suggestions about what we should do.

Some parents have formed organized groups that we have successfully recruited multiple participants from. We are unaware of youth groups like this. Also, parents concerned about their children’s gender dysphoria have been especially willing to participate. We would love to have similar numbers of parents and gender dysphoric youth. So far, though, we are not close to achieving this. In writing our research articles, we will address any imbalance between youth and parent respondents.

We welcome advice and help increasing our sample of gender dysphoric youth.

We believe that transgender individuals and their families deserve information on the full range of relevant pathways and outcomes associated with transgender identification. Furthermore, we do not believe there is anything transphobic about any of these ideas. For example, although some transgender persons dislike the concept of autogynephilia, an increasing number embrace that explanation as applying to themselves. And it is indisputable that sometimes gender dysphoria desists and that some persons who undergo gender transition subsequently detransition. Finally, we believe that rapid-onset gender dysphoria is a plausible explanation for the large increase in gender dysphoria during the past decade.

Asking about these ideas in the survey does not guarantee that we will find evidence supporting them. It is possible that our findings could fail to support any or all of them. Unless we ask, we can’t know.

We have received criticism for using the term “natal sex” (or “sex at birth”). We have also been criticized for using the term “sex assigned at birth.”

The terminology on this topic has become so politicized that there is no language that will be acceptable to all people participating. This is especially true because we are seeking participants with different perspectives. Whenever possible, we have tried to include terminological choices next to each other, so that respondents can choose the wording they prefer.