Parent Raina Bien describes her nonbinary child losing NYU care
Raina Bien, board chair of Transformative Schools and parent of a nonbinary seventh grader, says her 12-year-old was kicked out of NYU, lost their doctor, and had records tied up in a lawsuit. She describes families driving hours or paying out of pocket for puberty blockers and asks the city to expand ages, train providers, and consider a city-run pediatric clinic.
My name is Raina Bien.
I'm the parent of a non-binary seventh grader and the board chair of Transformative Schools.
Thank you all for the opportunity to provide testimony today.
The last couple of years have been very challenging for me and the other parents I know trying to raise happy, healthy trans children in a world that feels like it's been abruptly turned upside down.
My 12-year-old has been kicked out of NYU, lost the doctor to whom they confided deeply personal information, and had their medical records tied up in a lawsuit brought by our federal government.
The families that are struggling the hardest now are families like mine, with younger kids that need puberty blockers, the life-saving medications that put a temporary and reversible pause on puberty to give kids breathing room while they consider long-term medical decisions.
Our families are locked out of the practices that have seemingly arbitrary age limits, like 16 or 14 or 13, as we learned when we called around, and that does include various H&H locations.
We're driving multiple hours out of the city to clinics that have vowed they will keep going, paying out of pocket to private practitioners who don't take insurance in the hopes that will keep their practices safe,
anxiously navigating care with the overburdened local clinic that has too many patients, and in the case of too many families I know, moving abroad.
What does all this say about our city that calls itself a trans sanctuary, that has promised it will not turn its back on trans youth?
I applaud the City Council and Mayor's Office for promising more money for youth gender affirming care, but the details of how this money is spent is equally as important if it is to reach the most vulnerable population of younger trans children.
Can you lean on the organizations already receiving city money to expand the ages they serve?
Can you provide funds for training new providers, including for puberty blocker implants?
If an H&H expansion is not on the table, then how about a city-run pediatric and teen clinic?
I urge you to think creatively with a bold new vision because pouring more money into how things have been done in the past will not solve our problems.
We need new systems to keep children's care local, affordable, and protected from whatever the federal government plans next.
Thank you.