“I can say that access to medical transition saved my life. And these are not words I use lightly. It’s very, very serious. »
Posted at 6:00 am.
The one who speaks is called Maël Ste-Marie. He is 18 years old and studies CEGEP in Human Sciences at the Collège Champlain in Estrie.
On the phone I say the word “suicide” carefully. A Canadian survey found that 64% of transgender youth have considered suicide in the past year and 21% have attempted suicide1. Is this what Maël is talking about here?
“Yes, absolutely,” she said with striking confidence.
Before we move on, a word about pronouns. Maël is a non-binary trans person who considers herself neither male nor female. I asked him if I should use the pronoun “he” or “she” in my column. He suggested that I alternate between the two.
Maël is one of the few who can talk about medical gender reassignment in the first person. She just experienced it.
Maël was born in a girl’s body and was 10 years old when she began to feel uncomfortable with her body and the way others perceived her.
“I didn’t have the words to describe how I felt, but it worried me a lot,” he says.
It is the comic “Assignée Boy” by Quebec author Sophie Labelle that helps him understand better.
At 13, Maël came out as a non-binary trans person to his family and at school. Reception is generally good.
But like many transsexuals, puberty is a major source of anxiety for her.
It got to the point where I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror anymore. When I had my period I wanted to die. The idea of my body being so separate from me drove me completely crazy.
Maël Ste-Marie
After a process that she had thought about for a long time at the time, at the age of 14 she was offered hormone blockers that stopped her puberty. Later, taking testosterone gives him more masculine traits.
Today Maël has a body that is neither very feminine nor very masculine. And at the moment that suits him quite well.
“I have reached a point where I am comfortable with my body and my identity. “It’s a big relief,” she says.
She admits that she shudders when she sees a federal party that is ahead in the polls adopting a proposal aimed at banning what it has benefited from.
This is something that really scares me a lot. Being a young trans person is something very difficult. Access to services is anything but easy. The idea that it will be even more difficult and possibly impossible scares me.
Maël Ste-Marie
Transitions that work
The well-being that Maël Ste-Marie feels during a social and medical gender reassignment procedure is anything but anecdotal: it is the norm.
For example, an American study conducted among 103 young trans and/or non-binary people showed that after one year of follow-up, interventions, particularly hormone blockers and hormone intake, reduced the prevalence of depression by 60% and that of depression Suicidal thoughts reduced by 60%, 73%2.
Studies of this type are often criticized because they do not include a control group. We do not know what the outcome of these same young people would have been without interventions.
However, a just-published Australian study cleverly got around the problem by recruiting patients on a waiting list for medical procedures3.
The researchers ensured that half of the participants were able to avoid the waiting list and receive their intervention quickly. They then compared the mental health of these patients with those who had not yet used the interventions.
Results: Again, we showed a decrease in depression and suicidal ideation among those who had access to the interventions.
Do some people regret having irreversibly changed their bodies? The specialists we consulted admit that it happens. This is a serious question, especially when procedures are carried out on minors.
However, we cannot deny the documented fact that medical interventions for transgender people generally help save unfortunate lives. And even just saving lives.
Do you need help for yourself or a loved one?
Quebec suicide prevention hotline: 1 866 APPELLES (277-3553)