Kids as young as 3 referred to notorious London gender clinic

Over 350 children aged six and under have been referred to the controversial Tavistock clinic, it has been revealed.

Between 2010 and 2022, 12 three-year-olds, 61 four-year-olds, 140 five-year-olds and 169 six-year-olds were referred to the Gender Identity Development Service operated by the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust.

The clinic is due to be replaced by two regional hubs which will operate under interim guidance informed by findings from the Cass Review which in 2022 branded the Tavistock as ‘not fit for purpose’.

‘Tragic’

Nick Fletcher, the MP for Don Valley, commented: “It is tragic that their parents would not have known that the clinic was using treatment approaches biased towards affirmation and unsupported by rigorous evidence.

“We have not even begun to understand how gender ideology managed to get such a strong grip on the NHS – including the Adult Gender Clinics which are seeing vulnerable teens and young adults and which have, to date, escaped the close scrutiny of, for example, the Cass Review.”

In response to criticism, a Tavistock spokesman claimed: “The outcome of gender identity development in younger pre-pubertal young people is uncertain and so ‘treatment’ is not provided. Most often there would be a one-off discussion with the parents/carers to provide support and advice.”

Mermaids

Under NHS England’s proposed changes to the Children and Young People’s Gender Incongruence Service’s referral pathway, there would be a minimum age limit of seven even if a younger child had parental consent.

Responding to the NHS’s consultation on its proposals, scandal-hit group Mermaids urged the health service to abandon even this low age limit for referrals and continue to allow teachers and social workers to refer children into the service.

The group also claimed that the proposed pre-referral consultations, which would be required to determine a “local care plan to support the child or young person”, must not be allowed to decide that they would benefit from accessing a different service instead.

Last year, it was revealed that Mermaids’ former Chief Executive Susie Green had sent children to Tavistock in cases “unsupported by their GPs” – in one instance where the GP had “consistently refused to refer”.