A resurfaced 1991 study that examines the mothers of boys and their gender identity has been making the rounds on social media with pundits and influencers on all sides weighing in on it.
The study, “Mothers of Boys with Gender Identity Disorder: A Comparison of Matched Controls,” was published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry by Dr. Sonia Marantz and Dr. Susan Coates.
The women interviewed 16 mothers of boys with GID, or gender dysphoria — a person whose gender identity doesn’t match their assigned sex — and 17 mothers of boys without it. The study concluded that 53% of mothers of sons with GID qualified as having Borderline Personality Disorder.
A cottage industry has emerged on social media of parents documenting their children undergoing gender-changing procedures with accusations of profiting off their transition, or encouraging it, being widespread.
“The [study] is fascinating because it examines this outside of the current cultural and political context surrounding gender,” Mathers said. “The Morantz and Coates study has strengths in that it examines the issue before the current cultural explosion of redefining the norms of gender. It has a very small sample size, but that is to be expected for Gender Identity Disorder that was at the time incredibly rare.”