Anti-trans? Ashamed? Despite what others are saying, the authors were damned just covering this subject. The sensitivity behind this issue stymies any reporting or discovery that may be oppositional. Phenomenal job and thank you for this series. As seen in the US recently, being too sensitive will backfire- hard. Medicating children before they are old enough to fully understand the consequences is an enormous problem.

I was really hoping this would be a more inclusive podcast discussing trans healthcare and trans rights. A cis person saying “I’m really not trying to be transphobic, but…” isn’t the most helpful form of investigation. This line of thinking is so problematic. Around 1% of people who transition regret it. That is such a low percentage! There are risks for every single medical treatment! Why are we putting this one under the microscope?

This is such an irresponsible, emotional piece of reporting. The Mermaids policy analyst (sorry, blanking on their name) who indicated that Polly Curtis's "just asking questions" approach is an anti-trans dog whistle is completely correct, and Curtis's response - a flat, defensive denial, rather than any attempt to dig into WHY her question may be setting off alarm bells for someone who is no doubt vastly more knowledgeable & qualified to identify these insidious patterns through a combination of practice and lived experience - is beyond telling. Polly Curtis might not be a transphobe in the sense of hating or fearing transgender people, but it is obvious that her sympathies lie with the hand-wringing reactionaries and not with the transgender youth who are maligned by society and their own families. TRASH. Garbage. For all her moaning about a lack of evidence, what evidence does exist indicates that the regret rates and desisting rates for transition are phenomenally low. Studies overwhelmingly suggest that outcomes are good for trans kids who are allowed to transition in some way. The safety of puberty blockers has been researched extensively for cis children and have been in use for decades. The Cass Report has been shredded apart by more qualified people than myself and definitely by more qualified people than Polly Curtis. For all the neoliberal posturing about attempting sensitivity and neutrality, this podcast is at best clumsy and poorly presented and at worst ammunition for bad faith actors. I've liked quite a bit of Tortoise's reporting but like another reviewer this has seriously made me question their standards.

So few people could cover this issue with the kind of sensitivity this journalist has!! I feel so lucky to have come across this!

Very balanced view. She asks all the right questions, even though she doesn’t always get answers. The fact that the clinic was shuttered proves those questions needed to be asked

Tortoise should be ashamed of themselves for helping fuel hatred against trans people. I usually love their content, but this is making me wonder what their true morals are. How can you support bigotry like this but try and call out other forms…

I really loved Hoaxed and Dr. Anti-vax in their ability to look sympathetically at all parties involved while still resolutely committing to telling the facts and negative impacts of conspiracies targeting children and their caregivers. That rigor seems to be gone from this series, instead replaced with a tepid “both sides have valid points” analysis that refuses to draw firm conclusions. Like vaccines, the overwhelming medical consensus is that gender affirming care is the safest and most effective approach, and yet this series gives equal credence to pseudoscience peddlers with far right connections targeting one of the most vulnerable groups in society. Rather than doing the hard job of actual fact based journalism, Tortoise has instead chosen to pursue faux-neutrality, which is particularly concerning given the exterminationist ambitions of one side.

I give the host credit for attempting to be impartial. I agree that this topic needs to be discussed openly and I hate the culture wars surrounding this. However, despite what other reviewers here have said, I felt her bias definitely weighed heavily throughout the series. For instance, she says that hormone blockers are not safe because they can cause the loss of bone density. While this is true, puberty blockers are widely considered to be safe despite that possible side effect, especially when considering the high cost of doing nothing for these kids. She also draws the conclusion that because most kids who take puberty blockers go on to surgically transition, that is proof that the puberty blockers are impacting them. She says it as if they were influenced to transition because of the puberty blockers, rather than considering that these kids knew themselves enough to understand that transition is what they wanted. There are several other instances in the podcast where you could tell that she definitely leans against the use of the type of treatment the center was offering. While I agree that more research and more data are needed, I also fully believe that when the parents and the doctors are telling people this is the best path for the child given what we do know, we need to concede to their judgement.

Felt like the host spent a lot of time badgering doctors about how the science wasn’t there yet and zero time pushing back on the parents who had estranged their children by insisting that they were just going through a phase. The doctors obviously have far more experience than she does, and she keeps insisting the studies are insufficient without ever exploring any of the actual science or discussing methodology. This just felt very clumsily, inexpertly handled.

A balanced account that allows for wiggle room. Allows for nuance and imperfection, and notes that nothing is. Well researched and presented. Neutral but not non-emotional. If something is not the best thing, but better than the current thing, what is most ethical? Where does desire and preference fit in? It is respectful to people who are trans. It is understanding of those who question the specific methods at this specific clinic, and balanced about what that may mean. Good podcast about a difficult subject. Human.

If only all podcasts treated their subject/s with this much respect & neutrality. This was educational & thought provoking. Thank you.

This podcast was very well done. I learned a lot and I liked the style of including all of the different sides. I have a lot of compassion for the youth that is impacted by the political S show that is infringing upon the human right to consent to treatment that is valid for them. I believe that if anyone is not hurting others then let it be. If you don’t agree with whatever it is then don’t do whatever it is and let others decide for themselves. I hope there is another series that deals with other so called controversial topics that are discussed similarly. Thank you for teaching and entertaining.

An incredibly polarizing topic handled with the utmost care and consideration, presenting both sides in an unbiased and empathetic fashion.

What an incredibly hard topic approached with care, love and empathy. As a parent, I don't know how I would face this situation with my children. Well done Polly.

This podcast does a fantastic job explaining this complex issue. Thank you for questioning BOTH SIDES. We need more of this type of reporting in the US

I’ve largely stayed away from debates over trans rights because, as the presenter notes, they get so toxic so easily, with both sides all too often descending into hyperbole, vitriol, and accusations of persecution. It’s a rare piece of media that allows a calm, disinterested third party to quite simply try to clarify the facts for the benefit of the general public rather than muddying the issue further, and this is such a piece of media. This podcast sets up no partisan narratives either way—no one is labeled a “hero”, “victim”, “pioneer”, or “villain”. I came away with a better and more detailed understanding of the issues at hand instead of being frustrated by cant from either the left or right, and I’m grateful for that. Let’s face it, medical practice should be guided by science rather than culture-wars drama.