More than 100 gender brochures were filled out for children last year, AB gov.

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OTTAWA – More than 100 new prescriptions for hormone-related drugs were filled last year for Albertans between the ages of 11 and 15, according to data from the Pharmaceutical Information Network.

There were a total of 107 “primary pharmacies” of estrogen, testosterone and the puberty blocker leuprolide in 2023. This was down from the first 139 in 2022 and 124 in 2021, which marks a three-year low.

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2021 was the first year that the initial distribution exceeded 100, marking a 28 percent increase from 2020.

The numbers do not necessarily represent the actual number of 11- to 15-year-olds who started hormone therapy, as some patients may start using more than one of these drugs in a year some calendar.

Provincial population estimates indicate that there are approximately 275,000 Albertans in these years.

It is also unclear how many of these values ​​were prescribed for equity transfers.

Leuprolide, for example, is often prescribed to delay puberty, although this treatment usually begins when children reach their teenage years.

The data also shows that there were three to six times more prescriptions filled for testosterone than estrogen each year as of 2019, it provides perceptions of the disproportionate need for gender-affirming drugs among female-born youth.

Dr. J. Edward Les, a Calgary-based emergency pediatrician who supports bans on sex-changing drugs for young children, said teenage girls may be more prone to gender-related anxiety through the same reasons why they are more susceptible to physical damage. diseases such as anorexia and bulimia.

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“It’s hard to be a teenage girl,” said Les in an interview with her. And with it come many social pressures and anxieties that can trigger strong feelings of dissatisfaction with one’s body.

There are suspicions that different social media usage patterns among teenage girls and boys may be part of what’s driving this trend.

“We’ve learned a lot in recent years about how social media affects young people and young adults. And without a doubt, it has had a huge impact on girls on platforms like Instagram, Snapchat and Tiktok. “

Alberta’s numbers share the gender skew found in peer regions such as the United States and the United Kingdom, where young people are assigning females on birth records for a growing number of children seeking sex-changing drugs and medical procedures.

This is a long-term transition as male-to-female transitions have been more common than female-to-male transitions. According to the 2021 census, there were 31,555 transgender women and 27,905 transgender men aged 15 and over across Canada.

A recent review of gender identity services for children led by retired British paediatrician, Hilary Cass, described an increase in young people with mixed or gender identity in the reason for the “complex relationship between natural, psychological and social things.”

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Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said last week that she will soon introduce new legislation banning the use of virginity blockers and hormonal drugs in an effort to restore equality to Albertans under the age of 16.

The new legislation is expected to be introduced shortly after the Alberta legislature reconvenes later this month.

Children who have started using these drugs in order to separate women may continue to use them under the new law.

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