Episode Transcript
[00:00:11] Welcome to faith and science. I'm Dr. John Ashton.
[00:00:16] Just recently I watched a documentary on television about the number of young people, and particularly children, that are choosing to change their gender and this whole concept of gender fluidity. The program essentially dealt with, of course, young people going through adolescence and during that time, choosing to change, for example, from female to male, or I guess from male to female, whatever it is. And this really concerned me because it seemed that there was a whole, the way the documentary portrayed it was there was a whole movement to sort of accept young people's decisions at this early age. And indeed, here in Australia, in every state, it seems, there are hospitals, major hospitals, major pediatric hospitals that are specializing in these transformations. And there's waiting lists of, it appears, thousands of young people. Now, one of the things was they did interview a child psychologist, for example, who was very concerned about this.
[00:02:02] And one of the things that psychologists said was that young people should be encouraged to remain at whatever gender they were, at least through adolescence.
[00:02:18] And also they interviewed a pediatrician who was very, very concerned that young children, pre adolescent children, were making choices then to change their gender. And of course, this was being followed up on.
[00:02:38] Again, one of the really concerning factors is that my understanding is that most of these transitioning programs, if taken to completion, are going to lead the person either in infertile or else, maybe in the case of young women, unable to breastfeed their children if they choose to revert back from being a so called male.
[00:03:15] And it also seemed from my reading of the science underpinning that it's actually impossible for a fertile female to change to a fertile male or vice versa. And so, therefore, we have the issue that, in my mind, is a very serious moral issue, that these young people are being put on a course that could lead to them when they do mature and become adults, being unable to have children, whereas if they had not undergone that process, they would have been able to have had a family. And so one of the things I want to talk about today was adolescence.
[00:04:08] Now, it's very interesting that we know as we read the Genesis account that in the beginning, God made them male and female. And indeed, Jesus affirms this. We can read about it in the book of Mark, chapter ten, verse six. Jesus speaking points out, but from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. And so this is a special thing that we were made special.
[00:04:38] One of the things that happens, of course, when we're children, we grow up, we go to a change or a time in life where we actually change from childhood to adulthood. And this is called the period of adolescence. And I guess in a way, it's analogous to we have the caterpillar goes through a change and becomes a butterfly.
[00:05:05] And of course, in humans, the change is nowhere near that dramatic. Now, much of the emphasis that seems to be being generated in the media and so forth and on social media relates to sexual characteristics and the changes of the sexual characteristics. And I think one of the things that's overlooked is the period of adolescence also involves cognitive function development. So this is very important. So we change from this childhood cognitive function to a mature adult cognitive function. So we're able to process things, one would say in just general terms, much more maturely. There is also psychological development as well that runs in parallel with this. And so what is very concerning is that people, young people, prior to full cognitive development, to full psychological development, being encouraged to make choices that are going to later on be very difficult to reverse. That's not to say they can't be reversed.
[00:06:30] There's quite a lot involved, as we can see, because the biochemistry of adolescence is very complex. One of the things, of course, that did concern me watching the program, was that it appears that at least in one state of Australia, it's against the law to discourage someone from undergoing these sort of gender changes. So to me that just seemed, given that the media is allowed to, particular websites are allowed to promote it, it was illegal, I guess, to interfere and try and encourage the person to just remain as they are. So I think it's important to have a look at the chemistry of this.
[00:07:21] Now, adolescence is characterized by the early phase, which is, say, ten to 13 years, and then the mid phase, 14 to 16 years of age, and then the late phase, 17 to 19 years of age. So we can see really people of 18, although they're considered legally adults in some states, in some places in the world, they're probably the safest age to consider. Being fully developed as an adult would be the old fashioned 21 years of age. And so one of the processes that are involved in these transitioning so forth, from one gender to another, involve puberty blockers and some of these other compounds, like this hormones, the male and female sex hormones, estradiol and testosterone. So one of the things we need to look at then, is that this first part, from the early stage to the mid stage of adolescence is called puberty. It's the first half of adolescence, and that's the transition from a sexually immature child to a potentially fertile adolescent and adult.
[00:08:44] And it can begin as early, some of the very pre pubital changes that occur occur typically eight to nine years, and it's probably referred to as the pre pubital period there. Puberty. Of course, this change is influenced by optimum nutrition.
[00:09:08] It's also influenced by how much weight the person actually gained during mid childhood or mid adolescence.
[00:09:21] And also, there are genetic factors, because there can be mutations to the chromosomes that can affect this development. We need to remember that the human genome is increasing in the number of mutations with each generation. Generally speaking, and as I've said, I've referred earlier on, this is one of the reasons, on the basis of the increase in genetic mutations, that we can't be millions of years on matter of fact, we probably can't be more than about 100,000 years for life on earth just on that basis alone. And my calculations earlier on pointed that from the level of mutations that we have versus the rate of accumulation of mutations, it's powerful evidence that life on earth is actually only less than 10,000 years old. Now, the other factors that can affect, though, puberty or environmental factors, we know that, for example, the rate of puberty development can vary depending on whether it's in a rural or a city environment, particularly in developing countries, and also the presence of pesticides and industrial chemicals in the environment that the child finds themselves in, because some of these compounds, these chemical compounds, can interfere with the controlling compounds or chemicals that control the development. So the whole process of this maturing from a child to an adult is essentially controlled by a small organ in the brain, the hypothalamus, which controls the biochemical balance in our body and particularly the hormones. And so it controls the gonads, which are the male and female reproductive cells. In males, of course, they're the testes, and in the females, they're the ovaries. And so this is a good definition. I know. Again, I've seen programs where people tell me, how do you define a male or a woman or male or female? Well, a male has testes and a female has ovaries, and these produce the hormones responsible for the sexual development. Of course.
[00:12:01] Of course, there are other situations where there are very unusual mutations where both are present, both testes and ovaries, but generally one is developed and fertile, or if at all, or either both are infertile. I don't know of any reported instance where both would be fertile.
[00:12:21] And, of course, this situation is very rare.
[00:12:25] And so that's one of the reasons why a male really can't transgender to a female. You can't go from having testes to ovaries, your own, anyway, and be fertile. That's my understanding of it, and vice versa. So the other thing that's controlled by the hypothalamus, of course, is the pituitary gland, and that controls the functions of a range of enzymes.
[00:13:03] And of course, there is also a separate development, and that is the adrenal glands. There are developments that also occur in parallel to this.
[00:13:14] And so we call the development there, which this maturity is characterized by what they call the hypothalamic pituitary gonal axis, plus the adrenal cortex.
[00:13:32] And this leads to the appearance, of course, of the sexual characteristics and the acceleration of growth, body growth. The person begins to grow more rapidly and also the capacity for fertility, the capacity to have CHILDREN. And of course, this is part of God's plan for US.
[00:13:57] So prior to puberTy, this axis is dormant. And there's actually no detectable levels of estradiol in girls or testosterone in boys. But as puberty begin, these hormones begin to be produced in impulses. So you've got the gonatropin releasing hormone begins to be produced. And this is a hormone that actually stimulates the production of the gonad hormones. And this begins being released in pulses about one to 2 hours APART.
[00:14:40] And of course, in females, luteinizing hormone.
[00:14:45] And that begins to vary. And this changes as puberty develops. The frequency of these pulses changes from under 2 hours to continuous and then to 4 hours as cycles begin to develop later on.
[00:15:02] Now, if we look at in girls whose cycling and ovalation usually begins in the mid adolescence range, and we also have other androgens begin to be developed, dehydro epibandestrone, commonly known as dhEa.
[00:15:28] And that actually can begin to increase as early as six to eight years of age.
[00:15:36] The generation of the gonotroptin releasing hormone, of course, is regulated by a number of neuropeptides as well as the transforming growth factor, which is produced in glial cells. But the pituitary hormones or these multiple neuropeptides, sorry, there's some stimulatory ones, glutamic acid, the kiss peptin and neurocainin B.
[00:16:11] There's inhibitory ones like gamma butyric acid, prepoline, capalen and dinophrine.
[00:16:21] It was interesting with Kiss peptin, of course, the genetic code for that hormone, for example, involves over 300 amino base pairs. Amino acid base pairs. So just for that one hormone to form randomly by chance, or stimulatory neuropeptide, rather, sorry, not hormone just the chances of that genetic code just for that one neuropeptide, kisspeptin to form by chance, is astronomically impossible when we look at the stats of it. And so one of the things is when we look at these statistics for all these specific compounds, hormones and neuropeptides, growth factors and so forth, that produced in this change, that all have to be released at just the right time. It's not going to work if a world is released too early and so forth. It's not going to work if it's released our face. They all have to be released in synchrony. But they involve really complex aspects of code that evolutionists have to believe arose by random chance blind mutations to make this whole development work. And to me, it's just overwhelming evidence that the complexity of the code involved in these changes, let alone with a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. But it's the same in humans, in all mammoths, in all animals, really is extremely complex and specific, and it points to a unique, supernatural, super intelligent, creator, designer, programmer, biochemical programmer. But, you know, there are aspects of this, when these changes are taking place, that can be very scary for young people. So, for example, breast development, or theel arch, that can begin eight to 13 years of age.
[00:18:27] And then, of course, menstruation a little bit later, you get the appearance of pubic hair or this sort of thing. But the thing is that as the breasts are developing, the breast buds may be tender, they may be asymmetric in size. And this can raise concerns.
[00:18:43] At the same time, of course, the apopacarin gland, which is a unique special glands that are located in, that produce adult type body odors. And they're found under the armpits and parts of the breast, around our reproductive organs and other areas on the head as well. And the production of these things, these new smells, these can also be quite scary. Also, of course, the production of estradiol just prior to menarch, widely fluctuates. Really widely fluctuates. And so what we're having is we're seeing large hormonal swings and changes. We're seeing changes in our body, in the body shape. There's changes in fat levels. Again, the rising levels of these gonotropins released from the pituitary gland, like LH and FSH, follicle stimulating hormone.
[00:19:58] They can stimulate the ovaries to produce increasing amounts of estradiol. The estradiol then, of course, stimulates the breast development, the reproductive organ growth. It also affects fat redistribution, say, from hips and breast also affects bone maturation. So we've got a lot of changes, physical changes, that are taking place and not necessarily in balance with how they might be occurring in other people at the same age. And this can be very scary, very disconcerting.
[00:20:35] Perhaps it's more noticeable and very more obvious in girls, but of course, in boys, there are similar changes taking place in that the testes increase in size, pubic hair appears, the penis lengthens, and the production of sperm starts.
[00:20:57] And also, of course, we have the voice breaking, and so there can also, though, and this is another interesting factor that is really norm, there can be a mild degree of breast enlargement in boys, and this is seen in more than 50% of boys early in puberty. And again, this can be a worry, and people can interpret these changes incorrectly, but generally, that subsides spontaneously over several months. And then boys get a much greater growth spurt later in puberty. So girls tend to have their growth sport spurt just before men arch, and then boys, of course, later in puberty. So there's these different changes. And of course, we have the increase in muscle mass and bone development occurs, and total bone mass increases in both sexes.
[00:21:59] But it's interesting that a lean body mass can increase during the early stages of adolescence in both, whereas fat mass increases in girls in the later stage, for example, of puberty. And again, these changes, which are quite normal, they're part of normal development, can be so scary and disconcerting. And, of course, if people are perhaps discussing these issues in social media or among friends, and they don't understand fully the process, you can understand how young people can become very worried about these things. And I think it's important to have an understanding that these changes, and at times they can be uncomfortable, that can at times be unpleasant, but they go through a changes. In my view, it's very important to let these changes go through to completion.
[00:23:07] And one of the arguments the medical profession uses, of course, for transgenderism is, I guess, this whole concept that gender is fluid, which I believe is based on faulty logic, actually.
[00:23:29] And certainly I haven't seen any really good science that supports this. This is myself.
[00:23:37] So to me, it's almost a fantasy theory, really.
[00:23:43] We need to understand, of course, that people don't fully understand consciousness. Consciousness, and that's our brain, that's our personality. Who we are is certainly partly influenced because we know drugs can affect us, certain biochemicals can affect us, but consciousness, who we are, if you take the biblical worldview, is something that God has implanted in us, and we are special and that's who we are. And we're always going to be that person no matter how we muck about changing hormone levels and these sort of things.
[00:24:23] What can happen is of course, the medical profession want to get on to these changes earlier on because they're a lot easier to do in terms of regulating the different sex hormones. Testosterone, estradiol, putting in puberty blockers, all these sort of things can help facilitate make the changes a lot easier for the medical profession if the person wants to change. But I think the main point is that at that stage, the person still hasn't developed cognitively and psychologically.
[00:25:00] And that's why I hold my views that God created male and female. He created people special.
[00:25:10] If we have a worldview that ignores God, well, I guess God is going to have the final say in the judgment. We will certainly see this. But I think my own personal view is that if we hold to the biblical view, young people need to be encouraged that they will get through this. It is okay.
[00:25:32] People go through this. Some the symptoms are more severe than others, but we get through it and we can then enjoy adulthood and ourselves, become parents and enjoy having an adult life. So of course, these are issues that are unfortunately hotly debated in our secular world. Without taking into consideration that there was an original designer and planner who made us male and female for that particular reason. And I think it's very important for us young people to be reminded that they were made special by God. There's a God who loves them. There's a God who answers prayer, and there's very, very real evidence for this.
[00:26:23] The Bible itself presents the historical miracles that were occurred. And again, for people listening that hold a very secular worldview, I would encourage you to perhaps look on the Internet for some of John Lennox's YouTube videos where he, for example, demolishes atheism. There was an Oxford lecture that he gave. So John Lennox, L-E-N-A-O-X because he is a mathematician and philosopher from Oxford professor there, and presents a very, very powerful case for the existence of God and how, and a loving God, the God of the Bible, and how much sense it makes. And when we hold that position, we have a God that we can turn to for help and for love.
[00:27:19] I hope that this program has been helpful. If you want to relisten to it, remember to Google three ABN Australia or one word au. Click on the radio button and the listen button and look up. And there are many different programs too. And remember, then send the links to your friends on social media to encourage other people to find and discover these books.
[00:27:49] My book, Evolution Impossible, twelve reasons why evolution cannot be explained. The origin of Life on Earth is also available in main bookshops, and you can also look at the program Evolution Impossible under the tv series, and also I discuss the content of the book under the program science conversations.
[00:28:14] I'm Dr. John Ashton. Have a great day.
[00:28:34] You've been listening to a production of three ABN Australia radio.
