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Critique of WPATH Standards of Care version 8

The WPATH Standards of Care version 8 (2022) is the international guideline for the care of transgender and gender-diverse people.

Content of SOC-8

The WPATH Standards of Care version 8 (2022) is the international guideline for the care of transgender and gender-diverse people. SOC-8 introduced changes to chapters on adolescents, eunuchs and non-binary people.

Criticism of methodology

The British Cass Review and subsequent systematic reviews concluded that the recommendations in SOC-8 are not always supported by evidence of sufficient quality. The methodological underpinning of the recommendations became the subject of lawsuits in the US in 2023, in which internal WPATH documentation was released.

WPATH Files (2024)

In 2024, journalists from Environmental Progress, together with whistleblowers, published internal WPATH documents that showed concerns about the evidence base, political pressure (Biden administration) on age limits, and internal discussions about patient safety. WPATH rejected many interpretations of the documents.