But it is not true that gender dysphoria or “being trans” is similarly immutable. We know this, because before “affirmative therapy” was the vogue, gender therapists practiced “watchful waiting,” a therapeutic process whose goal was to help a child grow more comfortable in his or her biological sex. As we’ll see in the next chapter, watchful waiting was remarkably successful. Several studies indicate that nearly 70 percent of kids who experience childhood gender dysphoria—and are not affirmed or socially transitioned—eventually outgrow it.
