A study, the first of its kind, has found that transgender youth get pregnant at about the same rate as the general youth population.
Using the Canadian Transgender Youth Health Survey of 540 youth from across the country, the study’s authors found that about one in 20 sexually experienced transgender youth aged 14-25 had become pregnant, or caused a pregnancy, at least once.
That rate matches the five per cent of sexually active youths in B.C. who have become, or have caused someone to become, pregnant, the study’s authors said.
The result is surprising, Elizabeth Saewyc, the study’s senior author, said.
“To a great degree, many clinicians working with trans youth don’t necessarily see them as sexually active, or sexually active in ways that could lead to pregnancy,” Saewyc, a professor of nursing at UBC, said. “And if you’re taking hormones it’s assumed they reduce fertility so even if you are sexually active you won’t get pregnant.
“That’s just not the case.”
The study has just been published in the International Journal of Transgenderism, an academic peer-reviewed publication of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health.
“As far as we can tell, and we hunted pretty hard to turn up any other papers, this is the first time in the world this information on trans youth and pregnancy has been published,” Saewyc said.
One possible reason such a study had not been undertaken before is that transgender youth are often in distress, a disorder known as gender dysphoria.
“So they may not be talking about their genitals or body parts or sexual behaviour and health care workers may not ask,” Saewyc said. “I don’t think it’s on people’s radar.”
As well, a general misconception is that gender identity and sexual identity are linked, but that is not the case, she said.
“The assumption is they’re heterosexual, but sexual orientation is different from your gender identity and the body parts you have.”
The numbers are important, she said, because it means health care providers need to be counselling transgender youth about pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases just as much as they do youth in general.
“It shatters the notion that trans youth aren’t at risk for pregnancy, perhaps because they’re receiving hormones that tend to reduce fertility or because people assume they aren’t sexually active.
“B.C. doesn’t have the best sex education for the general population, let alone the trans youth population.
“It’s an import responsibility for health care providers to let trans youth know what the risks are to make sure they know how to protect themselves.”
