Abstract
Study Objective
To characterize transgender adolescents’ sexual behaviors, identities, and their perceived
experiences with sex education.
Design
Semi-structured interviews were conducted and addressed sexual experiences and perceptions
of sex education received from family, school educators, and healthcare providers.
Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed utilizing NVivo 12 software
for thematic analysis.
Setting
Child and adolescent gender services clinic at a Midwestern university-based medical
center in the United States.
Participants
30 transgender adolescents between the ages of 15 to 20.
Interventions and Main Outcome Measures
Themes generated during semi-structured interviews.
Results
Sexual orientations were inclusive of attractions to a spectrum of gender identities.
Libido was perceived to be impacted by gender-affirming hormone therapy, which was
unanticipated for some adolescents. Family and school-based sex education was perceived
to be relevant only for heterosexual and cisgender adolescents. Inclusive education
for transgender adolescents was desired. Counseling provided by gender-affirming providers
on sexual health was trusted and other healthcare providers were perceived to lack
training on gender-inclusive care.
Conclusion
This study demonstrated that families and school educators did not provide sex education
perceived to be applicable to transgender adolescents. Similarly, healthcare providers
of transgender adolescents were perceived to not provide inclusive or comprehensive
medical care in comparison to physicians who routinely provide gender-affirming care.
Gaps in education and healthcare could be improved with sex education outreach or
training for families and school educators as well as the development and implementation
of professional competencies for pediatricians on transgender adolescent healthcare.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: October 03, 2021
Accepted:
September 29,
2021
Received in revised form:
September 21,
2021
Received:
May 26,
2021
Footnotes
Funding source: Department of Pediatrics under the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiative, Michigan Medicine
Conflict of interest: All authors have indicated they have no conflict of interests relevant to this article to disclose.
Identification
Copyright
Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology.
