Update on bioethical, medical and fertility issues in gender incongruence during transition age

Abstract

Purpose

Many issues still remain unresolved in the management of pubertal patients with gender incongruence (GI). The aim of this review is to discuss the main aspects of the treatment of these patients to provide a practical approach for clinicians.

Methods

A comprehensive literature search within PubMed was performed to provide updates of available evidence regarding the impact on bioethical, medical and fertility issues in gender incongruence during transition age.

Results

Gender Affirming Hormone Treatment (GAHT) and Gender Affirming Surgery (GAS) can induce unsatisfaction with change, future regrets, and the risk of infertility. This raises ethical issues especially in the management of pubertal patients that remain unresolved. Therapy with GnRH analogues (GnRHa) is intended to delay puberty, so as to give the adolescent a longer period of time to decide whether to continue with the treatments. At the level of physical changes, this therapy may have an effect on bone mineralization and body composition; however, long-term longitudinal data are not yet available. An important feature related to the use of GnRHa is the risk of fertility. Gamete cryopreservation is the most established method of fertility preservation (FP) and should be counselled to transgender adolescents. However, these patients are not always interested in having biological children.

Conclusion

Based on the current evidence, there is a need to conduct further research to clarify certain issues and to standardize clinical practice and improve counselling in transgender adolescent decision making and avoid regrets in the future.