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Overview and Terminology

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Pediatric Gender Identity

Abstract

In recent years, there has been an increase in attention toward and understanding of transgender and gender diverse (TGD) youth. Guidelines including the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) and The Endocrine Society Guidelines have provided clinicians with recommendations for how to best treat these patients. Despite the existence of these guidelines, however, there is a shortage of providers versed in how to best care for these patients. A significant barrier for medical and mental health caregivers to providing quality care for TGD youth is insufficient education to competently address their needs. The goal of this chapter is to help readers adopt a more expansive, evidence-based understanding of gender through an overview of terminology, gender development, and gender-related care. Pediatric primary care and mental health clinicians are well-positioned to reduce many existing barriers to competent care for TGD youth, as they encounter a wide swath of youth and are already engaged in the crucial role of providing anticipatory guidance to all families about the evolution of gender identity and working to espouse space for sensitive conversations about this universal, yet stigmatized, aspect of child development.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, Boston, MA, USA

    Elizabeth S. Perzanowski

  2. Tony Ferraiolo, LLC, North Branford, CT, USA

    Tony Ferraiolo

  3. Transgender Youth and Family Support Groups, North Branford, CT, USA

    Tony Ferraiolo

  4. Jim Collins Foundation, North Branford, CT, USA

    Tony Ferraiolo

  5. National LGBT Health Education Center at the Fenway Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Alex S. Keuroghlian

Authors
  1. Elizabeth S. Perzanowski
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  2. Tony Ferraiolo
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  3. Alex S. Keuroghlian
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elizabeth S. Perzanowski .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

    Michelle Forcier

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

    Gerrit Van Schalkwyk

  3. Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Jack L. Turban

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Perzanowski, E.S., Ferraiolo, T., Keuroghlian, A.S. (2020). Overview and Terminology. In: Forcier, M., Van Schalkwyk, G., Turban, J. (eds) Pediatric Gender Identity. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38909-3_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38909-3_1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-38908-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-38909-3

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