It is now considered “standard practice” to treat gender-dysphoric children with puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgery. But is it really a good idea to turn children into lifelong medical patients? We are talking about powerful drugs with negative side effects, not to mention surgeries that amputate healthy body parts. 

From a young age, Brandon showed symptoms of gender dysphoria—a feeling of distress with one’s biological sex. Before he was even walking, his babysitter said, “He’s too good to be a boy,” meaning he was gentle, quiet and compliant—traits stereotypically linked to girls.

In preschool, Brandon invariably played with the little girls. By elementary school, he was coming to his parents weeping and saying, “I feel the way girls do, I’m interested in things girls are. God should have made me a girl.”

By age 14, he was searching the internet for information on sex change surgery.

It is now considered “standard practice” to treat gender-dysphoric children with puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgery. But is it really a good idea to turn children into lifelong medical patients? We are talking about powerful drugs with negative side effects, not to mention surgeries that amputate healthy body parts. 

Moreover, these invasive procedures do not actually change a person’s sex. Doctors tell us that “every cell has a sex”—and no treatment can alter every cell in our bodies.

How did Brandon’s parents respond to his gender distress? They assured him it is perfectly acceptable for a boy to be sensitive, emotional and relational. That does not mean he is “really” a girl. God may have gifted him for one of the caring professions, like psychology or health care. Boys can and should be merciful and “servants of all,” as our Lord taught (Mark 9:35). The greatest man who ever lived, Jesus, described Himself as “gentle and humble in heart” (Matthew 11:29).

Of course, God also delights in making girls who do not fit the cultural stereotypes—girls who are athletic and competitive. God does not divide His spiritual gifts by gender but gives them to both women and men according to His purposes (1 Corinthians 12:1-11).

Eventually, Brandon chose to base his identity on his God-given biology. The biological correspondence between male and female is not some evolutionary accident. It is part of the original design that God pronounced “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Our sexual nature is part of the created order that is “declaring the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1). Each of us is called to “glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:20). 

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