Christian doctors practice on the frontlines of tensions over gender dysphoria and transition. CT agreed not to use the name of one—call him Dr. J—because he doesn’t want protesters filling his northeastern US waiting room. What’s key: Dr. J resists a busy doctor’s pressure to rush through an appointment. Instead, he begins with mundane but essential questions about the patient’s social and familial history.
He’ll say, “Talk to me about what’s happened. What brought you to this place in life?” When patients express dissatisfaction with their status as men or women, Dr. J doesn’t suggest transitioning. Instead, he asks questions: “Who lives at home? How are your relationships? What do you do for a living? Have you experienced past abuse?”
Dr. J said it’s “about loving patients well, caring for them well, seeing them with God’s eyes.” Good questions help patients open up about their reasons for detaching from their male or female identity. They can form a bridge to help patients move beyond seeing medical transition as the answer to past trauma.
Dr. J. lives out what the Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA) call “winsome advocacy.” CMDA senior vice president Jeff Barrows calls for encouraging “meaningful dialogue” that could lead to changed opinions. Dr. J offers medical and scriptural arguments: He explains to patients requesting gender transition hormones that up to 85 percent of youth experiencing gender dysphoria later move beyond it and also encourages them to consider God’s design for their lives.
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