Medical Care for Transgender Youth with Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy

For those of us advocating for access to necessary medical care for trans youth, recent legislation seeking to criminalize or prevent this gender-affirming care feels like a huge step back. Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy is working to gain that ground back again, and to promote greater understanding of and support for it.

Visiting us today is Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy, who we lovingly call Dr. Jo. She’s the Medical Director of The Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Los Angeles Children's Hospital. She is also an Attending Physician, Investigator of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine and Behavioral Health, and Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics Keck School of Medicine of USC. Dr. Olsen-Kennedy is considered one of the leading experts in gender-affirming care.

With a patient load of over 700 transgender children, teens, and young adults and 16 years of experience in the field of gender-affirming medical care for trans youth, Dr. Olsen-Kennedy has answers to our most pressing questions related to gender dysphoria, treatment options, and much more.

In this episode, we talk about Dr. Jo's work at The Center and how she helps trans kids' parents, caretakers, and trans adults. We also discuss the barriers that prevent trans people from accessing quality medical care services and the effects of the criminalization of gender-affirming care for transgender adolescents on the LGBTQ+ community, their parents, and the professionals involved.

Dr. Jo kindly shares her position on the use of GnRH Analogs, and she invites us to reflect on why we have different responses when it is used on trans youth. We talk about the central role of having key conversations as the foundation of any medical care, and much more.

Some Questions We Ask:

• What would you say to young people who cannot access the level of care that you provide? What would you say are the most significant barriers? (7:39)
• As someone who's doing this work and watching it become illegal in other states throughout the country, do you feel like you're on a battlefield? (18:56)
• What are the big questions people have about hormones, and how do you answer them? (44:44)

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

• Dr. Jo talks about the only field of medicine designed to make all the cisgender people around the patient comfortable (14:01)
• Gender is a color wheel; male and female are merely reference points (15:52)
• The difference between doing the work and defending the work. People deserve authenticity (21:16)
• The importance of bilateral information (37:59)
• One of Dr. Jo's biggest lessons learned in her profession (1:03:27)

Resources:

• Los Angeles Children's Hospital website

Connect with Johanna:

• Dr. Jo's profile - Los Angeles Children's Hospital website
• Email: [email protected]

Connect with Jackie and Bridget:

• Instagram
• Website
• How to Be a True Ally Course Registration

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