| You've got quite a lot wrong. That's understandable: the UK press frequently prints misinformation about trans people. Tavistock and Portman is hated by transphobes simply because it provides healthcare to trans children. It's hated by trans people for a number of reasons. The wait list is over two years. The care is not very good. (the latest CQC inspection is concerning. It's likely Tavi will lose the contract at some point, we're just waiting to find out when that will be). There is excessive and intrusive psychological screening - that's supposed to be supportive but children often describe it as aggressively denying their transness.. They delay access to puberty blockers. Here's the CQC report: https://api.cqc.org.uk/public/v1/reports/7ecf93b7-2b14-45ea-... > Hormone blocking seems to be the main course of treatment in children while in therapy (that last part also seems very key) No, absolutely not. The vast majority of children with gender incongruence get counselling and psycho-social support. Sometimes the child's gender incongruence subsides. Sometimes it doesn't, and the child is supported to go through a social transition. This doesn't involve any meds, it just means the child "lives as their acquired gender". For a very small number of children this isn't enough, and that tiny number of children go onto puberty blockers. 60 million people in the UK, 13 million age 16 or under. Fewer than 200 children prescribed PBs. The court case you linked to is being appealed. It's an unusual decision. In England if someone is over 18 they can make their own medical decisions unless they lack capacity to do so. If they're 16 or 17 they can consent to treatment, but cannot decline life-saving medical treatment. If they're under 16 they're checked to see if they're competent to make decisions, and then they can consent to treatment but can't refuse life saving treatment. All of this can happen without the involvement of their parents. If the child can't consent their parents can consent on their behalf. Tavistock's process was more complex. The child had to have capacity to consent, and had to consent. But also the parent had to consent. And the Tavistock psychiatrists and psychologist had to agree. And, finally, the endocrinologists had to agree. If any one of these parties didn't agree the treatment was blocked. The court said that this rigorous consent process was not enough. This is more a reflection of how widespread transphobic attitudes are in the UK than it is of medical science. |