Over one in 10 young teens who express a wish to change gender, “grows out of it” and may benefit more from psychological help than gender alignment treatment, a study by Groningen University has shown.

Researchers followed some 2,700 youngsters and asked them about their wish at different ages. At 11 years old some 10% said they wanted to change gender. That had dropped to just 4% by the time they had reached 25.

Depression and low self-esteem played a big role in the initial wish, researchers found.

“One in 10 is a relatively large number,” psychologist and head researcher Sarah Burke said. “During puberty, teens are looking for an identity. They have all sorts of doubts and questions. So it’s understandable.”

Expressing a wish to change gender at a young age does not always mean the person is transgender and can be part of growing up, she said.

The study shows medical intervention is not necessary in the majority of cases, medical ethics expert Jilles Smids said. “The study shows it’s normal to have doubts about your gender,” he told the Telegraaf.

Chris Verhaal, who is a clinical psychologist at the Radboud expertise centre for Sex & Gender, said that society should be more understanding about gender doubts as a normal phase in children’s development.

Children who think they are in the wrong body are referred to his clinic too quickly “because our care professionals have too little knowledge about this themselves to help these children,” he said.

According to research on behalf of the health ministry, the number of people requesting medical help to change gender has increased by 200% in the last few years. Of the 8,600 people on the waiting list in 2022, a third were under the age of 18.

The Groningen study is part of Trails, a long-term research project which tracks the psychological, social and physical development of youngsters, and which started in 2001 when the participants were 10 and 11.