Soaring numbers of young people are being prescribed puberty-blocking drugs by ‘gender identity specialists’.
The Mail on Sunday revealed that 800 children – some as young as 10 – are currently receiving puberty blockers on the NHS.
The controversial drugs pause the development of sexual organs, making it easier for doctors to carry out a ‘sex change’ operation later in life.
‘Unethical’
The Mail on Sunday reports that more than 600 young people are receiving the drugs from the Gender Identity Development Service at University College Hospital in London, with a further 200 receiving them from a clinic in Leeds.
Responding to the news, Stephanie Davies-Arai of Transgender Trend, a parents’ group concerned about the impact of transsexual ideology on children, said:
“These kids are not old enough to make life-changing decisions that will affect them for the rest of their lives. It’s unethical to pursue this line of treatment with children who cannot possibly understand what they’re doing.”
Reason for concern
An expert in psychiatry also spoke out, saying puberty-blockers have been rapidly accepted by the medical community “without scientific scrutiny”.
Prof Paul McHugh, former Psychiatrist in Chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, warned “there is reason to be concerned about the welfare of children who are receiving it”.
“There remains little evidence that puberty-suppression is reversible, safe, or effective for treating gender dysphoria”, he said.
Media bias
In May, Transgender Trend attacked the UK media for facilitating the harmful idea that children can be transsexual.
The group argued that organisations such as the BBC have facilitated a rapid public acceptance, not just of transsexualism, but of “the completely new belief that children are ‘transgender’, together with the idea that invasive medical intervention is a necessity”.
Transgender Trend found that the “BBC alone has covered the subject of ‘transgender kids’ in at least 35 online articles, 23 radio broadcasts and 7 TV shows” in a twelve month period.
Harmful ideas
In an article for The Times Scotland last week, Ciarán Kelly, Head of Communications at The Christian Institute, wrote: “The huge volume of positive coverage for the transgender phenomenon has turned it into a cause célèbre rather than a cause for compassionate concern.”
He added: “Have you seen the coverage of those like Walt Heyer who have re-embraced their true biological sex? Thought not.”