On Fox Nation's "Deep Dive," Wall Street Journal Editorial Board member Bill McGurn and a panel of experts discussed the fallout from a Texas judge's decision in the controversial case of two parents fighting over the potential gender transition of their 7-year-old child.
TEXAS JUDGE RULES PARENTS MUST MAKE JOINT DECISION IN GENDER TRANSITION CASE
"In most cases ... a judge would award custody to one parent or the other because when you can't agree, you cannot have joint custody. Here, the judge seems to have done sort of a hybrid in that mom has custody, but on this gigantic issue [of the gender transition] both parents will have an equal say," said attorney Joanna Splibor.
Last week, Judge Kim Cooks gave parents Jeff Younger and Dr. Anne Georgulas, joint decision-making over medical, dental and psychiatric care for their kids.
A ruling in favor of Georgulas could have allowed her to move forward with plans to potentially give the boy puberty blockers after she received a letter of recommendation from Dallas Rainbow Therapy urging that he “receive a full psychological assessment for gender dysphoria and potentially take hormone blockers,” The Washington Examiner reported.
CHRISTIAN DOCTOR OF 30 YEARS LOSES JOB FOR REFUSING TO USE TRANSGENDER PATIENT’S PREFERRED PRONOUN
"I also understand that if [the parents are] really at loggerheads and they can't agree, an attorney, an amicus attorney, I'm assuming appointed by the court, will make that decision for them," added McGurn.
"Imagine that," remarked Splibor. "So a stranger who doesn't live with his child or with either parent is going to have the final say on what sex, what gender this child is eventually going to be. I mean, that's just a complete anomaly. But it is common to appoint an attorney for a child in a heated custody situation."
The major legal issue that remains unresolved is whether or not there is an age of consent for an individual to determine their gender.
"The law is not clear," said McGurn. "What's the legal age where you can make the decision for yourself?"
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"Gender identity is a very fluid issue," offered Dr. Douglas Sapphire, who is a forensic child and adolescent psychiatrist for Sapphire Behavioral Health Services and an attending psychiatrist at Hackensack University Medical Center. "As a person goes from prepubescent into pubescency, [they] will definitely change and all the studies have shown that."
However, Sapphire cautioned that some actions done for children who may have gender dysphoria are reversible.
"There's lots of different interventions that can be done right ... There's surgical interventions," he said. "And obviously, there are certain things that can take place that can be reversed and certain things that can't."
Sapphire stressed that providing a caring and nurturing environment for children in these cases is paramount.
McGurn also raised concerns over how the father, in this case, is being perceived.
"He's definitely treated in the media ... as frankly the bad guy," argued McGurn. "I think he feels he's got the psychiatric associations against him. He's got the press against him ... In his mind, he's fighting for his son. He's got no one really on his side ... Isn't it just amazing that he's a bad guy?"
"I think his position is truly, 'I want my kid to be a kid. And we can figure out what gender he wants to identify with -- way down this road,'" said Spilbor.
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Fox News' Frank Miles contributed to this report.
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