# Rates of Minors transitioning In this context, the word transition is being used to define when an individual medically transitions, through the use of hormones or surgeries, to the opposite gender. Many who follow Shrier's work report an "overwhelming" number of teenaged girls identifying as transgender and seeking medical intervention. When discussing the rates of children transition, Shrier uses statistics; > "In the United States, the prevalence has increased by over 1,000 percent. Two percent of high school students now identify as “transgender,” according to a 2017 survey of teens issued by the Centers for Disease Control and and Prevention (CDC).” In Britain, the increase is 4,000 percent, and three-quarters of those referred for gender treatment are girls." - Chapter 2 What immediately struck me is how large the numbers were. A 4,000% increase sounds like an astronomical rise in incidence rates. Investigating that led me to a [telegraph article](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/09/16/minister-orders-inquiry-4000-per-cent-rise-children-wanting/#:~:text=Download%20our%20app-,Minister%20orders%20inquiry%20into%204%2C000%20per%20cent,children%20wanting%20to%20change%20sex\&text=An%20explosion%20in%20the%20number,prompted%20an%20inquiry%20by%20ministers.) about a British Minister asking to investigate the increase. In 2009, 40 teenage girls were referred by doctors for gender treatment, which raised in 2017 to 1,806 referrals. This doesn't mean that these children are undergoing any medical treatments, but rather that they were recommended by a doctor. The 2% of high school students identifying as transgender is consistent with other reports. However, simply identifying as transgender does not mean specifically undergoing any medical treatment or permanent changes. The link below has a similar percent with 1.5% of youth identifying as transgender, which is higher than 0.5% of adults who identify as transgender. {% embed url="" %} There are probably a multitude of factors that has influences the difference in rates including; * HIV and AIDS harming older LGBT populations * Increased acceptance by younger generations * Increased comfort in gender experimentation * Children having more space to question their gender and understand how they feel when it comes to gender * Decreased comfort with older generations to experiment with gender presentation Speaking about some of these topics, the video below gives perspectives by transgender men who have been on transgender-related hormones for varying levels of their lives. Some are extremely young while others are older adults who have families. {% embed url="" %} And to address laws being utilized to restrict gender-related care for minors, Dr. McElroy published a episode of a podcast on the topic. In the episode, she mentions the rates of minors medically transitioning, gender-affirming care, and what it looks like from a doctor. {% embed url="" %} Both of these are obviously more personal than Shrier's statistics, but they brighten the conversation and give weight to when and how children experience gender. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://miles-2.gitbook.io/rstm-intervention/rates-of-minors-transitioning.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.