Page 142 of Precise Justice

“Okay, how many patients have you had, best guess?” Jennifer asked.

“Four hundred and twenty-three,” Curtis answered.

“Pretty specific guess,” Jennifer said.

“I figured it would come up so I checked.”

“What percent would you say are minors, children or maybe older teens?”

“Eighty-three percent started receiving therapy after their surgery were minors. Some are still in therapy, even though they are now over twenty-one. Years of therapy to come to grips with what was done to them.”

“What about adults how many transitioned after becoming adults?”

“We have some, seventeen percent or seventy-two. Of those, only a few have been in long term therapy.”

“Of those, the ones who transitioned after reaching adulthood, how many suicides?” Jennifer asked.

“None. All of them have what I would label as uncertainties or doubts. But they seem to adjust much better than minors.”

“What are the types of problems you see among minors?”

“A wide range. Depression, of course, is easily number one. They all suffer from that. Then there is anxiety, fear, and anger is very common. Mostly what they have are symptoms of depression.”

“What is your responsibility, as a therapist, if you believe a patient is a danger to himself or others?”

“Notify the authorities, the police.”

“Ever done that?”

“A few times, yes. Almost every trans patient has thoughts of suicide. A few, very few, gave us cause for concern enough to have the authorities involved.”

“How did those turn out?”

“None of the ones we reported to the authorities harmed themselves or anyone else. We did lose a few of them as patients when they found out we went to the authorities with our concerns.”

“Have any of your trans patients committed suicide?” Jennifer asked the question the entire trial wanted to know.

Curtis hesitated, drew in a deep breath, rolled his eyes upward, exhaled, looked at the jury and sadly said, “Yes. Six. Six young people I professionally failed.”

“What about homicide, Doctor? Doyour trans patients talk about that, about killing the people involved with the transitioning?”

“Yes, most of them, in fact. But, so far, I have not believed it was meant by any of them to the point where I thought it necessary to report it. It’s always said in anger and in a sense of frustration. Normally not specific to any one person.”

“To be clear, do you mean none have ever said something like, “I’m going to kill doctor so and so for doing this?”

“Yes, that’s what I mean. They’re hurt more than anything, the trans kids, especially.”

“Have you had opportunity to meet with Robbie Craig, my client?”

“Yes, I’ve spent a total of three hours with her. In addition, I have gone over the medical reports of her surgeon, Dr. Walter Miller and Robbie’s psychiatrist Dr. Phillip Friedman. And I read through her diary.”

“What was your expert opinion of the defendant?”

“Your Honor, this has to stop,” Hughes stood and said.

“Fifteen minutes, I’ll see council in chambers,” Foster banged his gavel and said.

Again, Foster’s court reporter indicated he was ready after everyone was seated.

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