Doctors feel pressured to take an ‘unquestioning approach’ to children wanting gender-change, report says

Mar 12, 2022 by Jill

by Shaun Wooller, Mailonline:

Doctors feel under pressure to adopt an unquestioning approach to children seeking to change their sex, a review found yesterday.

It said a lack of formal clinical guidance and stifled debate have left many medics ‘nervous’ about offering the ‘more robust support’ they want to deliver.

The NHS-backed report said the situation means youngsters are being given the controversial puberty blockers or sex-swap hormones they ask for – when they may benefit more from waiting or other care.

The Cass Review into gender identity services for children and young people was commissioned by the NHS following a surge in demand for appointments and calls for better guidelines.

The Gender Identity Development Service at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust in London is currently the only specialist service of its kind in the UK for young people.

Referrals have rocketed from 50 a year in 2009 to 2,500 in 2020, with 4,600 on the waiting list. There is a waiting time of more than two years for a first appointment.

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