Article content continued

Bailey and Blanchard’s report provides a typical ROGD profile these parents recognize only too well. “Out of the blue,” never having shown signs of gender dysphoria before puberty, a girl announces she is trans. She has always been socially awkward. She is likely on the autism spectrum, or suffering from anxiety, depression, self-harming, anorexia or Borderline Personality Disorder. She is also likely a lesbian (but may not yet be aware of that).

ROGD is an historic anomaly not yet understood or explained

This girl’s social world outside her family, Bailey and Blanchard explain, “glorifies transgender phenomena and exaggerates their prevalence.” Typically, the girl makes her declaration after a “heavy dose” of exposure to Internet influences. (Mothers I’ve spoken to referred to Tumblr and DeviantArt as prime influences. and New York researcher Jack Gieseking told a BBC interviewer last May, “There really isn’t a trans person I’ve met under the age of 30 who hasn’t been on Tumblr.”)

Influenced by peers coming out as trans, the young woman comes to believe she is also trans. Habituated to social marginalization, she is suddenly fussed over by a warm circle of friends. There is, Bailey and Blanchard note, a cult-like quality to the embrace.

The pressure to transition begins at once. She is encouraged to get on (off-label) cross-sex hormones that will render her infertile for life, and to consider surgery as soon as possible. Some jurisdictions allow mastectomies as young as 14.