Boys should 'tuck' genitals 'to reduce gender dysphoria', Harvard hospital recommends

Boys should ‘tuck’ in their genitals if they want to ‘reduce gender dysphoria’, a Harvard-affiliated children’s hospital has recommended.

In a now-deleted video, the Boston Children’s Hospital said the purpose of tucking is to ‘help [transgender people] feel better’.

Doctors at the clinic also gave tips for 'binding' breasts — when a trans boy born a girl tries to flatten their chest. 

Critics told DailyMail.com that the methods are ‘harmful fads’ and that advising children to use them ‘isn’t healthcare’ but ‘quackery’.

Tucking is a technique where an individual hides the penis and testicles so they are not visible through clothing.

It is done by moving the penis and the testicles inside the inguinal canals — where the testicles naturally go when it is very cold — then securing the area with tape.

Another way is to wear tight underwear that is one or two sizes too small to create the appearance of a flatter front.

Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Oregon linked tucking to urinary tract infections, problems with urine flow and twisting or inflammation in the testicles.

If tape is wrapped too tightly, it can even cut off blood circulation, and skin irritation can occur if tucking is done regularly.

In the clip originally posted to the Boston hospital’s YouTube page, psychologist Colleen Williams championed the benefits of tucking.

The Boston clinic originally posted the videos on tucking and binding on its YouTube channel, which has over 100,000 subscribers

The number of chest reconstruction surgeries among children in the US jumped five-fold from 2016 to 2019 from 100 to 489 annually, figures show

This map shows the proportion of children aged between 13 and 17 years old that identified as transgender by state. The darker colors indicate a higher proportion of youngsters. In New York and New Mexico, it is as high as three per cent

She said: ‘Tucking is definitely a topic that comes up for transgender and gender diverse folks, particularly people who have a feminine or female gender identity and were perhaps assigned male sex at birth.

‘The purpose of tucking is it helps them feel better – more congruent and aligned with the body that they do have. That can help reduce gender dysphoria.’

Gender dysphoria is emotional distress due to a disconnect between gender identity and biological sex.

In another video, the Boston hospital — part of the Harvard University medical system — also recommends binding for transgender boys who were born female.

Binding is the use of tight fitting sports bras, shirts, bandages or a specially-made binder to compress breasts and provide a flat chest.

These can be worn for up to 10 hours a day, pediatric nurse practitioner Sarah Pilcher said.

In the video, she adds: ‘A lot of my patients who identify as transgender male or non-binary or male-leaning like to do that.

‘The top three tips I have for safe binding are to first make sure you’re measuring correctly. And sometimes it may take the assistance of a parent or a trusted friend to do it right.

She added: ‘Second, making sure that you’re buying not only to correct size for your chest measurements but your shoulder measurements too because a lot of people make mistakes there.

‘The third tip is definitely not wearing it for more than 10 hours a day.’

Boston Children’s Hospital, whose tagline is ‘Where the world comes for answers’, did not respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com. 

Studies have shown that binding can result in negative side effects, including skin and tissue problems such as tenderness, scarring, swelling, itching and infections.

People who bind their breasts can also experience pain in their chest, shoulders, back and abdomen, a 2018 study by Johns Hopkins School of Public Health found.

There may also be postural changes, muscle wasting and rib fractures or bruising.

Dr Jay Richards, from the right-wing Heritage Foundation, told DailyMail.com: ‘All the evidence we have about binding breasts and tucking the penis and testicles point to one conclusion: Don’t do it. Tucking can stunt development, and breast binding can not only damage the breasts, but even deform the ribs.’

He said: ‘These methods are harmful fads, based on the assumption that affirming (and mimicking) a child’s discordant sense of gender is almost all upside with little to no downside. Advising that children use these techniques isn’t health care. It’s quackery.’

Meanwhile, psychotherapist and founder of Genspect Stella O'Malley told DailyMail.com: 'It is unconscionable that a psychologist and a nurse from Boston Children's Hospital recommend tucking to reduce gender dysphoria. 

'The practice of tucking is not only painful but it also causes long-term damage to the body and there is no evidence that it reduces gender dysphoria in the long-term.

'Boys can explore their gender identity in many significantly less harmful ways - for example, boys can wear dresses, make-up and/or jewelry. This would be a more psychologically positive way for an individual to expand their sense of gender identity rather than compressing a delicate part of the body in a bid to pretend it's not there. 

'If an individual is tucking then they are focusing on compressing a part of the body as if to pretend it doesn't exist - it is rejecting the body and so these clinicians might be gender affirming however they are body rejecting.

'Tucking isn't a healthy practice, it often becomes a form of self-harming behavior and Boston Children's Hospital should know better than to promote it.'

DailyMail.com contacted Boston Children's Hospital for comment. 

Los Angeles Children’s Hospital also has a ‘tucking information’ resource on its webpage.

It listed pros of tucking such as ‘could provide a sense of comfort and security knowing your flat front is consistent with your desired body image’ and ‘less anxiety around genitals showing within public settings’.

It said wearing tighter underwear could be a ‘liberating experience’.

Another resource on the site said binding can be used to ‘affirm an individual’s identity and allow them and their gender identity to be correctly perceived in public’.

It comes as the Boston hospital last month claimed some babies know they are transgender ‘from the womb’.

The hospital also faced claims it rushed under-18s into life-altering sex change surgery.