Transgender youth just as likely to get pregnant as other adolescents

New research shows transgender youth have been found to have similar pregnancy rates to other adolescents. Photo / 123rf

Transgender youth have similar pregnancy rates to other adolescents, new research shows.

Waikato University lecturer in Psychology, Dr Jaimie Veale, led the research, which used data from the 2014 Canadian Transgender Youth Health Survey.

Looking at 540 transgender youth aged 14-25 who had previously had sex, the study found that 26 young people - or 5 per cent - had "been involved in pregnancy'' at least once in their lives.

The figure mirrored British Columbia's pregnancy rate of about 5 per cent among sexually active young people.

Veale's research was part of her postdoctoral fellowship study at the University of British Columbia in Canada.

Waikato University lecturer in Psychology, Dr Jaimie Veale. Photo / Supplied

Veale, who is transgender, said the public often assumed that transgender youth were not sexually active or that because they were receiving hormones that tended to reduce fertility, they could not get or get someone pregnant.

"This study shows otherwise,'' she said.

Senior author of the study and UBC nursing professor Elizabeth Saewyc said the research indicated that more support was needed for transgender youth when it came to sex education.

"Clinicians should ask trans or non-binary youth about their sexual health and behaviours.

"They should ensure this group know how to protect themselves from unintended pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections.''