Mayo Clinic goes full-Mengele
/Mayo Clinic Experiment: "gender-affirming" testosterone for breastfeeding mother
Six Mayo Clinic doctors published a paper describing their treatment of a breastfeeding mother with gender dysphoria. They initiated testosterone treatment on the woman during the time she was still providing nutrition to her child, monitoring the effects of the treatment on both mother and infant.
Management: Subcutaneous testosterone was self-administered beginning at 13 months post-partum. We prospectively collected data on circulating testosterone concentrations in parent serum, milk, and infant serum over 5 months until the infant self-weaned. The infant was monitored for growth and development at routine pediatric outpatient appointments. Parent serum testosterone concentrations rose with the initiation of testosterone therapy, reaching therapeutic concentrations by Day 14. Milk testosterone concentrations also increased with a maximum concentration of 35.9 ng/dl when the lactating parent was on a dose of 80 mg subcutaneous testosterone cypionate weekly. The calculated milk/plasma ratio remained under 1.0 and the calculated relative infant dose remained under 1%. The infant had no observable side effects, and his serum testosterone concentrations remained undetectable throughout the study period.
Conclusion: This is the first study with data regarding human milk and infant serum testosterone concentrations during the initiation of gender-affirming testosterone therapy in a lactating individual. This evidence can help families and clinicians with decisions regarding lactation and testosterone use.
David Strom: “Rather than waiting the 5 months until self-weaning or switching to formula–which at 13 months would be an easy switch–both the mother and the doctors decided to run an experiment on the baby to see what happens. They gave the mother hormones and monitored the child to see whether horns sprouted or puberty began.”