Wednesday, December 23, 2020

Puberty Blockers – Again

The push back against the court order that stopped trans children under 18 from getting the puberty blockers has begun.
Puberty blockers: Parents' warning as ruling challenged
BBC
By Ben Hunte
December 22, 2020


The NHS gender identity service is seeking leave to appeal against a High Court ruling that restricts children under 16 from accessing "puberty-blocking" drugs.

The NHS service says the move harms young people with gender dysphoria.

Doctors and parents have told the BBC the ruling could put already vulnerable trans teens at risk.

And trans young people have been giving their reaction, with one calling the ruling "honestly terrifying".

Gender dysphoria is when a mismatch between a person's sex assigned at birth and their gender identity causes them distress.

Accessing puberty blockers is currently one of the first steps in treatment for young people wishing to transition.
[…]
As a result, trans children under the age of 16 will now need a clinician to apply to the High Court to be able to access puberty blockers, and all current referrals and appointments have been paused.
Trans children will be at the mercy of the judges, you get a liberal judge and you get your blockers but they assign you a conservative judge no dice you have towait until you’re 18.
The NHS Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) website states: "This judgment and the revised NHS England service specifications for GIDS raise a lot of questions and may be the cause of anxiety and distress for our patients and their families/guardians.
The judge’s ruling is being appealed.
British trans clinic appeals puberty blockers judgment
Thomson Reuters Foundation
By Rachel Savage
December 22, 2020


LONDON, Dec 22 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - England’s only youth gender clinic said on Tuesday it had sought leave to appeal a court ruling that has stopped its doctors from being able to prescribe puberty-blocking drugs to under-16s without a judge’s approval.

The Tavistock clinic had been expected to challenge the Dec. 1 High Court ruling, which said under-16s were unlikely to be able to give informed consent to the drugs - fueling a global debate about the age at which a child can transition gender.

Hours after the ruling, Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) said doctors would need court approval to prescribe puberty blockers, prompting the Tavistock & Portman NHS Foundation Trust’s clinic to halt new referrals for the drugs.
Puberty blockers have been around for a half of a century…
Puberty blockers have been used for decades to treat precocious puberty, a rare condition where a child’s body matures early, usually before they turn eight.

More recently, doctors have prescribed puberty blockers for children who are experiencing gender dysphoria, a discomfort caused by their gender identity not matching their body, to delay physical changes.
[…]
"When treatment is needed, its effectiveness will be diminished while waiting to be seen by a court of law," a statement by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, a U.S-based doctors association, said last week.
What we do know is if gender dysphoria goes untreated that suicidal idealizations increases.

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