Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
Those of you who were shocked by our story last week about a new trend that celebrates boys who like to dress up as girls shouldn’t be too shocked to learn that the UK has approved a drug for children as young as 12 that will stunt the development of sexual organs to pave the way for eventual gender change surgery.
The Telegraph is reporting that the country’s National Research Ethics Service has given approval to the UK’s only specialist clinic for Gender Identity Disorder (GID) – the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust in London – to prescribe monthy injections of hormone blockers to youngsters as young as 12 years.
Dr Polly Carmichael, the clinic director, told the Telegraph that reducing the age limit will be “welcomed” by families of young children who would normally have to travel to the U.S. to get treatment for their children.
“The majority of our referrals are 15-plus and we get fewer from a younger age group,” she said. “Certainly, of the children between 12 and 14, there’s a number who are keen to take part. I know what’s been very hard for their families is knowing that there’s something available but it’s not available here.
“This delay gives us a window to explore together that they are definitely making the right decision. But as professionals we need to be looking at the long term and making sure this treatment is safe.”
Initially, the hormone blockers, which are used for early onset puberty, will only be given to a select group of children and teens who have been selected for the project which is being jointly run by the National Health Service (NHS) and University College London Hospital.
Those children participating in the program will go through a series of psychological and medical assessments before receiving the blockers. Those who meet the qualifications will be given the hormones which will stop their sex glands from making either estrogen or testesterone, which will prevent the youth from developing male traits such as facial hair and deeper voices and girls from developing breasts or menstruating.
According to Dr Carmichael, only around 10 to 20 per cent of prepubescent children with GID go on to have sex change operations; 80 percent of youth in their late teens are likely to have the operation.
Research has found that family factors play a critical role in how children learn to become comfortable with their sex. While many children may experience gender confusion, most grow out of it with the help of their parents.
Harvard professor Jerome Kagan, who has spent 4 decades studying children with gender identity, said those parents who are particularly affirming of their children’s cross-sex identification ultimately have the worst outcomes in child health and well-being.
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