Chloe Cole is a self-described "former trans kid" who de-transitioned after undergoing years of puberty blockers and an irreversible double mastectomy at the age of 15.

Cole is now travelling across the country to share her story and raise the alarm about gender transition procedures on children, a growing trend she calls "child abuse" and "medical experimentation."

"I'm planning to keep doing this until it stops," Cole told CNA Wednesday in an interview.

Cole, who grew up in Northern California, was just 11 years old when she was first exposed to gender ideology through online platforms.

"I kind of lacked female role models growing up," Cole told CNA, citing body image issues, early exposure to LGBTQ content, and unmonitored internet access as factors that propelled her struggle with gender dysphoria.

Cole was also diagnosed with autism and ADHD at age 7, which she says are "common comorbidities with gender dysphoria."

The link between autism and gender dysphoria has been scientifically studied and reported on by independent journalist Abigail Shrier, suggesting that children on the spectrum are particularly vulnerable to the pull of transgenderism.

A ‘false' choice

It didn't take long before medical professionals fast-tracked Cole into medically transitioning from a girl into a boy, a trend she says has exploded among children.

Cole said Wednesday that her parents "were scared and desperate for answers" when she first told them she was a boy and that their decision to sign off on transitioning her was "forced under extreme duress."

"The gender clinic presented my parents with the classic false dichotomy: Would you rather have a dead daughter or a living son?" Cole said.

Cole was put on puberty blockers and testosterone at just 13 years old, which caused a ripple of negative side effects, including unbearable hot flashes and what she describes as an endless feeling of boredom.

"For me, it was pretty bad, like they were making my whole body really itchy. On certain days I couldn't even wear sweaters or long pants in cold weather," Cole told CNA.

"I felt like there was this feeling of boredom that just wouldn't go away. I would just wake up waiting for the next best thing," she remembered.

Cole continues to experience joint pain from weakened bone density — a known side effect of puberty blockers — as well as certain allergies and ongoing urinary tract infection symptoms.

But all of this pales in comparison to the double mastectomy Cole underwent at age 15, which permanently removed both of her breasts.

"The name of the operation I went under was ‘double mastectomy with nipple grafts,' meaning they make cuts under the breast and take out the tissue underneath," she explained.

Cole added that the surgeons also surgically removed her nipples and grafted them back on in a "more masculine position" — creating serious side effects that she will deal with for the rest of her life.

"They severed the nerve endings. The sensation is never the same again, and there are permanent changes in pigmentation — it might not ever look the same," she explained.

Cole says she was given the impression from doctors that her grafts would mostly be healed by a year and a half after the surgery, but she still has complications more than two years later.

"The top layer of skin is not really healing over. It emits this fluid constantly, so I have to wear non-adhesive bandages over them all the time."

But what Cole most regrets is how "the beauty of motherhood" was stripped from her at an age when she wasn't able to fully comprehend the loss.

"At 15, I wasn't really thinking. I was a kid, just trying to fit in — not thinking about the possibility of becoming a parent." Continue reading

"That's not the case," says sports scientist Ross Tucker. "I wish that society would be accepting."

The report was leaked a couple of weeks ago by The Guardian, which suggested World Rugby was considering changing its policy around male-to-female transgender players, potentially banning them from playing women's rugby.

The policy change was based on the scientific report co-written by Tucker, which said, even after testosterone treatment, trans athletes retained a significant performance advantage over biological women - manifesting in "at least a 20-30 percent greater risk of injury when a female player is tackled by someone who has gone through male puberty".

The proposed ban was predictably polarising: NZ Rugby immediately came out and said while it would seek feedback on the proposal, it wasn't keen on a ban.

Wellington rugby player Alice Soper told RNZ's Morning Report she would have no problem lining up against women who underwent male puberty, and described the proposal as "TERF-y".

On today's episode of The Detail, Emile Donovan speaks to Tucker about how he came to these conclusions, the physiological differences between men and women, and the extraordinary situation sports administrators find themselves in.

This is not a discussion about whether trans women should be able to play sport. That isn't a question; sport is a human right.

This is about an intersection of competing values: of inclusion, safety, and fairness, in a situation where there isn't a clear way to balance all three.

A fundamental question in this discussion is why sport is split along the lines of biological sex.

"[We split sport] within a sometimes arbitrary range, because if we didn't do that, the smallest boxer would never win," says Tucker. "The athlete with the most severe cerebral palsy would never have the opportunity to win that medal ... and, similarly, those who are female and therefore physiologically different in their biology would have zero chance of winning those medals if they had to compete in an open category against males.

"The scientific, biological differences between men and women are so large, they would render women irrelevant in elite-level sport. Therefore, we protect a category of people who do not have the advantage in order for their sport to have the same meaning.

"Now, we can have a Usain Bolt, who won the 100m gold medal, and we can give the same medal - of equal value - to Shelly-Anne Fraser-Price, because they've both expressed the attributes that we recognise as making them the world's best sprinter."

How big is that physical discrepancy? Pretty big, says Ross Tucker. Continue reading

Nichols says children will find their "greatest joy" by accepting their biological sex rather than selecting a gender of their choice.

They are not "single, self-determining individuals," Nichols told the teachers.

"At a time of great confusion about the rules of sexual behaviour, about exploitation and abuse in every part of society, some firm points of reference that are already built into our humanity at its best are of vital importance."

He said Catholic moral teaching in areas of friendship, relationships, family life and human sexuality rested on the foundations of the church's vision of common humanity rather than on individualism.

These foundations are important in today's world, he added.

Nichols told the teachers their students need help to develop a sense of justice grounded in an "innate understanding of human nature and its dignity," not ideology.

"The Christian faith, more than any other, takes the reality of sin seriously, not pretending that we live in a utopia or on a pathway of endless progress, but rather in a world marked by limitations and distortions."

His comments followed a briefing paper by the Anscombe Bioethics Centre in response to Scottish proposals to reform the Gender Recognition Act 2004.

The Centre is an academic institute serving the Catholic Church in the UK and Ireland.

The reforms, which are likely to be copied later this year in England and Wales, will permit any person to change their gender by law simply by self-declaration.

If passed into law, the reforms would remove legal provisions involving assessments for "gender dysphoria" undertaken by doctors over a period of at least two years.

The proposals envisage the right of children to self-declare into a new gender at age 16 when they cease to be minors.

Younger children will also be able to change their gender without parental consent if they appeal to the courts.

The transgender advocacy group, TG Pals, said Nichols's remarks were "not helpful" and "a religious bias should not have any impact on a transgender child's needs".

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales will consider its response to transgender issues next month.

Source

• Catholic Philly
• Catholic News Agency
• Image: St Ethelburga's