Redemptoris Mater
Ineffabilis Deus
Salvifici Doloris

Transgenderism Three: From Health to Infertility

by Francis Etheredge

​A wound is a rupture of a person’s physical and/or spiritual integrity, and a wound that remains open cannot heal. The gender ideologue surgeon’s experimental cut that creates a facsimile organ opposite to a person’s sex is, in reality, the deliberate opening and maintenance of a wound. This reflects the broader trajectory of gender ideology, whether expressed through name changes, invented pronouns, or a chemically and surgically altered appearance.

As we will see in this book, interpreting studies on transgenderism requires realism: the apparent rise in youth identifying as transgender is best understood not as a distinct category of human beings, but as the deliberate consequence of many influences. The electronic media connects ideological advocates with vulnerable young people. In addition, there is an explicitly pornographic sex education organized around a false “cis/trans” binary rather than the natural, biological complementarity of being male or female. Furthermore, there are books promoting multi-sex identities. And there is the use of anti-discrimination laws to advance gender ideology. This culture-wide confluence of gender ideologues’ ideas contributes to an environment in which parents doubt their God-given protective parental instincts and children are told they can be anything except who they are.

Families are even confronted with the false dilemma: “Do you want a dead son or a live daughter?” This false dilemma is emotional blackmail because drugs and surgeries cannot change a person’s sex. Sex is not a phase, a choice, or a mere bodily feature, but an expression of the whole person innately connected to their natural reproductive design, a beautiful reality that can be obscured by trauma and yet naturally reasserts itself as the ground of identity. The essential question of life is not what we reject or remake, but what kind of gift we are called to be for others. We are no longer dealing with medicine but with ideological fallout that fails to grasp the psychological and physical wounds opened in young people and their families. What is needed is clear evidence, sound medicine that does no harm and the spiritual help we seek or receive from a merciful God.

This book, with an authoritative foreword by Dr. Michelle Cretella, offers a concise account of where this debate stands today.

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CONTENTS

Brief Bio for Michelle Cretella, MD

Foreword: “Indoctrinating, Diseasing and Sterilizing Youth is NOT Healthcare: Transition and Gender Are Weaponized Words of Mass Destruction”: Gender dysphoria and the harm that follows its social, chemical and surgical reinforcement; Social transition prevents desistance and can lead to irreversible medical damage; Social and medical transition do not prevent suicide; Concluding remarks

Introduction: What is “Transitioning”?

The possibility of the fraudulent use of endocrine codes

Compromised objectivity: WPATH membership and that of other organizations

What, in reality, is reversible about the medicalized ‘gender-affirming-care’ pathway?

Previously published work

Part I: The Questioning Years

If the search for self is the goal, how common is the experience of shedding many provisional ideas until we identify ourselves wholly?

Writing an investigation begins with investigating writing

Unbeknown to myself a writer

Common threads: Who am I and who are we?

As we proceed, so there emerges other sources to assist us

Part II: Questions Have Answers

How did these investigations begin?

The law, terminology, and debate

Part III: The stultification of development

Is there evidence that gender ideology leads to harm? 

A variety of contributors which show, more widely, what contributes to this discussion on medical harm?

How did we get here?

Let us consider the wide-angle lens         

Depersonalization: A person is an objectified expression of an ideology

Part IV: Salvation is God’s rescuing mission

Discussion: Prophetic Church Documents

Humanae Vitae: A perception of the loosening of the value of the gift

The theology of the body: the person-as-gift

In conclusion

Part V: Do we need another puberty-blocker trial?

Discussion: What can a trial add to what is already known?

A Second Conclusion

A Third Conclusion

Postscript: Evidence or a Smoke Screen?

The Questionable Validity of Citations

 

The Questioning of Decision Making

Marketing or Guidance?

Conclusion: Soft Changes with Hard Outcomes

A Lasting Word

Prayer to the Holy Family to Help

Author Articles

“Conception: A Contradiction?” by Francis Etheredge, Homiletics and Pastoral Review (December 11, 2020), available here.

Testimonials

“This book, with its dramatic title, seeks to help all to realize that ‘Transition’ and ‘gender’ are weaponized words of mass destruction.” – Michelle A. Cretella, MD is a pediatrician, researcher, educator, writer and speaker.

“In Transgenderism Three: From Health to Infertility, Francis Etheredge addresses one of the most difficult and contentious issues of our time with characteristic seriousness, conviction and compassion. At the heart of his argument is a question deeper than politics: what does it mean to be a human person? Drawing upon theology, philosophy, personal experience and contemporary medical and legal debates, Etheredge argues passionately for the integrity of the person and, especially, for the protection of young people while they are still discovering who they are. Whether or not readers agree with every conclusion, this is a timely contribution to a debate in which the consequences of getting things wrong may be profound and irreversible.” – James Sale, author Gods, Heroes and Us

REVIEW BY LARISSA DE MICHIEL

“Certainly, in a time when there is considerable discussion and debate surrounding gender, gender roles and the ways our society understands and relates to men and women, a book such as this provides a timely and important contribution to the conversation.

         It offers a thoughtful signpost toward health, hope and clarity for a generation increasingly navigating complex and often competing ideas about identity, development and what it means to be male or female.
          As a Christian, though not a Catholic, I recognise there are some theological nuances where my views differ from those of the author. Nevertheless, we share a common conviction regarding the dignity, worth and identity of human beings as those created in the image of God. It is this shared foundation that makes many of the insights and reflections within this book both helpful and compelling.
          Drawing on personal stories, contemporary research, scientific evidence and current statistics, the author presents a carefully considered perspective on these significant issues.
          The strength of the book lies in its willingness to engage both the evidence and the human realities behind the discussion, offering a perspective that is accessible, thought-provoking and grounded in a concern for the healthy development and flourishing of both boys and girls.
          In my own role as a Chaplain, working daily with senior students, and through more than 30 years of Christian ministry, including 16 years as an ordained pastor, I continually encounter many of the questions and challenges explored in these pages. These conversations are not theoretical. They are part of the lived experience of young people, families, educators, pastors and ministry leaders alike. For that reason, we need thoughtful books, resources and ideas such as this to help inform, challenge and guide our engagement with the complex issues facing the next generation.
          At a time when the implications of these questions extend well beyond the individual to families, education and wider society, this is an important and timely contribution to the conversation.”
For more on Larissa de Michiel, see https://larissademichiel.com/

REVIEW BY CHRISTINA SUNDERLAND, ANGLO-CATHOLIC NOVELIST

          In this profound discussion of transgenderism, gender ideology, law and reality, and the interaction of God and Man through the mystery of the Incarnation, bioethicist and theologian Francis Etheredge has distilled what is true and what is false, what is good and what is evil, what is life-affirming and what is life-denying.

          The author of many books examining who we are and the truth of human existence, Etheredge discusses science, theology, and philosophy, along with legal and social issues, painting a vivid picture (however horrific) of our world today.

          Beautifully written, this short work, in some ways new material and in other ways a summary of Etheredge’s previous writings, argues the case for seeing reality as it is, the truth that teaches our hearts. As always, he communicates to us personally, as if in conversation, leading us along an easy and clear path through these difficult and profound topics. For, Etheredge says, “the human person [is] a truth seeker.” When reality becomes distorted and denied, madness reigns. It’s that simple, really.

          Is our world insane to deny reality and surgically maim our children? Gender ideology, transgenderism, advocates such barbarism.

          And so we seek, in spite of the denial of reality all around us, the “magnetic north” of truth, our very existence, created by God, and loved by Him. Seeking to be a part of that relationship, in community, we learn to love one another as God loves us.

          Good doctors are waking up to the crimes committed in the name of gender dysphoria. We must listen to them. Using the law to silence objections to “transitioning” and puberty blockers deepens the tragedy. We must pay attention and write good laws that value life, especially the lives of children, who in the past were protected by parents and their status as minors. They are no longer protected.

          But God is with us, and “salvation is God’s rescuing mission.” We must consider who we are and are meant to be. Again, reality and existence solve the puzzle. The body is holy, sanctified, good. It is a gift we must treasure and use as God intended. We learn how to do this through the Church and her teachings, through the community of love we are given here on earth, for we are both body and soul, not just flesh, but imbued with spirit. We are sacraments, sacramental.

          And there is so much more to ponder and reread… to see better, to love better, to protect our children better.

          Thank you, Francis Etheredge, for this remarkable treatise on a painful and unpopular subject. Thank you for your courage. Thank you for opening our eyes to the mystery of life given us, that we must neither reject life nor maim our children, but protect, embrace, and love them.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mr. Francis Etheredge is married with eight children, plus three in heaven.

Francis is currently a freelance writer and speaker and his “Posts” on LinkedIn can be viewed here. Poetry; short articles; autobiographical blog; excerpts from books; and “Philosophize: A Ten Minute Write.”

For a list of all of Francis’ books published by En Route Books and Media, click here.

See Francis’ other books, too, entitled Scripture: A Unique Word, From Truth and truth: Volume I-Faithful Reason, From Truth and truth: Volume II: Faith and Reason in Dialogue, From Truth and truth: Volume III: Faith is Married Reason.

He has earned a BA Div (Hons), MA in Catholic Theology, PGC in Biblical Studies, PGC in Higher Education, and an MA in Marriage and Family (Distinction).

Enjoy these additional articles by Francis Etheredge:

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