Trans teach teens how to use hormones to change sex

When she turned 13, Gabriela* looked like a boy — despite having long hair and dressing ambiguously. A little over a year later, at 14, she was already showing off a new look and giving advice on YouTube on how to be trans. In the images, Gabriela showed her face with more feminine features and, visible behind a cleavage, breasts developed like those of an adult woman. The video had an impressive number of views, and most of the comments refer to the fact that the YouTube algorithm indicated Gabriela’s video.

For her age, Gabriela could not have undergone surgery to make her body more like a woman’s — which is only allowed at 18 years of age. Nor could she ingest female hormones before the age of 16. The standards were established by the Federal Council of Medicine (CFM) in 2020. Before that, the minimum ages were 21 and 18 years old, respectively.

Gabriela’s parents certainly know the rules. The father and mother work in the health field.

With thousands of followers on Instagram, Gabriela now talks about the transition process and influences other young people who have been led to believe that they need to readjust their bodies to their “gender”. In the videos, the teenager denies having had a breast implant and claims that she does not intend to alter her genitals.

Gabriela’s case is the most visible face of an alarming problem: due to family negligence or lack of adequate follow-up, minors are anticipating the steps of gender transition.

On her YouTube channel, where she has thousands of followers, Gabriela — now 15 years old — continues to publish videos about the transition process. She says she dreamed of having female breasts. “I had the dream of breasts. It really was my dream to have breasts. (…). It was my dream, my dream, my dream. My dream indeed. It was like my life’s goal was to have boobs.” In another video, she celebrates the fact that she made that dream come true. It is not clear how it happened. But both plastic surgery and the injection of female hormones, which would cause this effect, are prohibited in teenagers her age.

The report of People’s Gazette he looked for Gabriela’s father, who didn’t answer. By CFM rules, professionals who disrespect the Council’s resolutions are subject to punishment.

Influence of networks

Despite the regulations prohibiting the injection of crossed hormones (of the opposite sex) in children under 16 years of age, it is not difficult to find influencers who promote self-medication. In a YouTube video, a trans teenager who lives in the Northeast, now 17 years old, explains how she started ingesting female hormones at the age of 13. Medicines were purchased at pharmacies — without any medical supervision and under the minimum age allowed. She also mentions three different types of hormones, and recommends one in particular.

In turn, the young woman says that she learned about the subject, including the application methods, watching a video of a transsexual who identifies herself as an activist.

The activist has a series of videos recommending hormones. In his most viewed, with hundreds of thousands of views, the message is direct: “I’m here to give a tip to my friends who are starting to dress as women now and who want to be a transvestite in the future, especially those young ones who they are 14 and 15 years old (…) Here’s the tip, my love. This one, look. This one is the secret ”, says the influencer, before saying the name of the medicine while she holds a box of the product. In other videos, she teaches in detail how to inject the hormone using a syringe.

Recommended drugs have serious side effects. The ingestion of these hormones brings irreversible effects. Doctor Raphael Câmara, former Secretary of Primary Health Care at the Ministry of Health, says that the inappropriate use of these hormones has serious consequences: “The main problem is a huge increase in the risk of breast cancer; but I can also mention stroke, acute myocardial infarction and malignant tumors in the liver. I could write a book about the problems this can cause,” he says.

For Hélio Angotti, Doctor of Medicine from the University of São Paulo and former Secretary of Science, Technology, Innovation and Strategic Inputs at the Ministry of Health, the improper promotion of medicines is a clear disrespect for the law. “This can be considered an illegal practice of medicine. It is a question of the Penal Code and even goes beyond the competence of the Regional or Federal Council of Medicine, although the council can file a complaint because of its competence to regulate the profession”, he explains.

Eugênia Rodrigues, spokeswoman for the No Corpo Certo campaign, says that the misuse of female hormones by boys who want to make a gender transition is relatively common. “In Brazil and in the world, there are these schemes. I met a girl, unfortunately lost contact, in which her own father, a doctor helped her. She was a lesbian girl who happily woke up that she was obviously not a man,” she says. The campaign Eugênia is part of seeks to draw attention to the irreversible consequences generated by puberty blockers, the injection of hormones of the opposite sex and sex reassignment surgery.

CPI investigates possible irregularities

The issue of gender transition in minors has gained increasing attention. In May of this year, the Legislative Assembly of São Paulo opened a CPI to investigate “possible violation of the provisions of the federal council of medicine” by the Hospital das Clínicas of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of São Paulo, which maintains a specific outpatient clinic for minors of age identified as transgender. Last week, the Chamber of Deputies commission responsible for childhood and adolescence issues held a public hearing on the subject.

A few weeks ago, the presence of a group of “trans children” at the São Paulo Gay Parade generated reactions. The participation was organized by the NGO Minha Criança Trans, which has 580 associated families. For Thamirys Nunes, self-medication is the result of lack of access to adequate health services. “These young people resort to self-medication due to lack of specialized care and lack of information and guidance. Outpatient clinics specialized in caring for the transgender child and youth population are, for the most part, concentrated in the South and Southeast regions, in capitals and metropolitan cities,” she says.

But the truth is that other countries have adopted stricter policies that, in practice, restrict transition procedures to adults. In 17 US states, the practice has been banned. In Florida, for example, legislation passed this year even allows the state to have temporary and emergency jurisdiction over a minor if the family has undergone sex reassignment procedures. In Texas, a similar rule was signed into law a few weeks ago.

In Europe, health agencies and medical associations have backed away from promoting transitional interventions for minors. In recent months, Sweden, France and England have begun to adopt a more cautious stance on the subject after new evidence has emerged that irreversible interventions (such as hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgery) may cause more harm than good.

The report of People’s Gazette sought CFM, which refused to give interviews on the subject and only reaffirmed having already addressed the subject in the resolution published in 2020.