Sanity is finally beginning to prevail in the world of medical treatment for children who question their gender.
The closure next spring of the NHS’s only gender identity clinic for children is a vital and long overdue step in righting the wrongs of what could perhaps be the biggest medical scandal this century – the routine use of puberty-blocking drugs on children.
These powerful drugs can endanger fertility and open up the possibility of brutal surgery to reassign sex organs. Yet in this country, they have been given to those as young as ten.
Other countries have banned their use in children. Sweden curtailed the use of blockers among under-18s last year, with a leading Stockholm paediatrician saying they ‘chemically castrate’ children, causing problems with mental health.
France has stopped them, too. Its top medical academy blames a social media frenzy for fuelling demand among teenagers, particularly girls, for the drugs from doctors. Read more…
