Fertility Preservation for a Transgender Teenager

In this article, we discuss a case in which a 16-year-old birth-assigned male came out to her parents as transgender. She is referred to the gender management program at a large pediatric academic center to discuss hormone therapy. She was initially evaluated by a psychiatrist, diagnosed with gender dysphoria and anxiety, and treated with medication and psychotherapy. When her anxiety was well controlled and she met eligibility and readiness criteria, she was referred to 1 of 2 pediatric endocrinologists in the gender management program to discuss hormone therapy. As part of the discussion about the risks/benefits of estrogen therapy, the pediatric endocrinologist discussed options for fertility preservation (FP) before potentially gonadotoxic therapy. The patient stated that she was not interested in FP. Her mother requested procedures to preserve the possibility that the daughter could have biological children someday. We asked experts in the care of transgender youth to discuss ways in which the doctor could respond to this disagreement between parents and a teenager about FP.