Victory in the Fight to Keep Seven-Year-Old James Younger from Being Transitioned into a Girl

By now you’ve likely heard that earlier this week, a Lonestar state jury ruled in an 11 to 1 decision that James Younger, the son of Jeffrey Younger, be transitioned due to the preferences of his non-biological mother, Dr. Anne Georgulas.

Simply put, officials had, in essence, mandated that a seven-year-old boy be put on puberty-blockers, pumped up with cross-sex hormones and eventually surgically castrated against the will of his father.

Thankfully, we received word on Thursday that the judge presiding in the case overruled the jury and granted joint custody to both the mom and dad. The judge also ruled that they must both agree on medical treatment for James.

This is great news. However, it’s unfortunate that this was an issue in the first place.

In this instance, Jeffrey Younger and Dr. Georgulas have been separated for several years and had maintained joint custody of James. However, the jury originally ruled that the agreement would be changed to give Dr. Georgulas sole custody. Dr. Georgulas believes James is actually a girl and is transitioning him step by step.

If you’re like me, the more you learn about this story, the more your heart breaks about this young boy.

Dr. Georgulas has completely “socially transitioned” her son James. She registered him for school as a girl, clothes him in dresses and calls him “Luna” instead of James.

According to Mr. Younger, Dr. Georgulas began treating James like a girl when he was three-years-old. At age three, she would tell him that he was a girl, put him in dresses and paint his nails. At his fifth birthday party, Dr. Georgulas made him wear a dress, and “come out” as a girl to all his friends. Witnesses later told Mr. Younger that they saw his son hiding in a corner crying.

Now there are two main ways to treat young children with possible gender dysphoria.

The first approach, “affirmation,” is the one Dr. Georgulas wants to take. With this method, the child is socially transitioned at a young age, is put on puberty-blockers around age 11, begins receiving cross-sex hormone therapy at 13 and then receives a surgical sex-change at age 15.

The second approach to dealing with gender dysphora is “watchful waiting.” This approach involves waiting for the child to learn to embrace their biological sex.

The research shows that 80 to 95 percent of children who suffer from gender dysphoria will embrace their biological sex after puberty if the “watchful waiting” approach is used.

It’s immoral to think children can make the massive life decision to live as the opposite sex when they don’t even know the difference between a boy and a girl. Here, the commonsense approach would be to tell the boy that he is a boy, not to affirm his imagination and harm him with hormones and surgery.

As parents, it’s our job to protect our kids from harm. In this case, until the judge ruled for joint custody, we had seen every institution designed to protect and care for James fail.

While we can be thankful the judge stepped up, we still need to be in prayer for James whose parents still disagree over whether he is a boy or a girl.

Ephesians 6:12 reminds us: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (ESV).

It’s unconscionable that no state in the country has banned puberty blockers, hormone therapy and sex-change surgery for minors. Please join me in praying that that changes as a result of this case. And above all, pray that the light of the Gospel will shine into the dark places of our world bringing healing, hope and love.

If you or someone you know may be suffering from gender dysphoria, we at Focus have a page providing helpful resources for you. Get help by clicking here.