Information for gender variant youngsters.
Adult transsexual people often express the wish that they had received treatment when young. GIRES has prepared the publication below for the Department of Health. It can be dowloaded by clicking the image or ordered in printed form.
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However, the treatment offered at this stage in the UK diverges markedly from that offered in other countries.
Update The British Society for Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes (BSPED) has published its amended statement on caring for children and adolescents with gender identity disorder. This would allow the early suspension of puberty in adolescents, experiencing profound and persistent gender dysphoria, This safe and reversible treatment (a) prevents the development of unwanted secondary sex characterisitics, (b) relieves the related stress and (c) provides the young person and the involved clinicians with more time in which to decide on future physical interventions.
The onus is now on the Gender Identity Development Service at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust in London to offer this treatment without further delay. Although, the statement says that this should ideally be implemented as a research study, that is not a precondition. Therefore, the London service is free to offer the treatment now on a case by case basis, subject to normal ethical approval.
A major issue still to be resolved is the apparent refusal of the service to treat adolescents who have already commenced such treatment privately, in the UK or overseas. That refusal seems to be ethically and even legally questionable. The British Medical Association's guidance on the interface between NHS and private treatment permits continuation of such treatment.
Also see announcement by Tavistock & Portman NHS Foundation Trust on the 23rd September 2009, suggesting some relaxation of policy.
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