Only in clinical trials, according to NHS England, did gender clinics no longer prescrib menstruation blocks. ( Getty )
When I was 14 years old, I first began to doubt my identity. This occurs more frequently among younger transgender individuals. For some, the realisation comes later in life.
Being a young person who questions genders is frightening at the time. The all too common youthful worry of knowing where you belong in the world is exacerbated by feelings that you are aware of are very genuine but, whether or not they are unintentionally, are treated by those around you as a nausea.
Now that the real disease of transphobia has permeated the UK like poison in the water, I ca n’t imagine what life must be like for a young trans person in today. What I do know is that my thoughts always left me and, statistically, the same is true for tomorrow’s trans children.
Whatever explanation NHS England provided for the poorly-thought-out decision to stop prescribing puberty blockers to all but a select few on its ever-growing waiting list, the specialists are aware that the current state of transgender healthcare in the UK is insufficient.
The NHS England review, which was published on March 12th, contends that there is” no adequate data” to support the use of puberty-suppressing hormones by under-18s other than clinical trials, the turning point for decades of snuffling out of an already underfunded and disregarded health services.
The news, quite rightly, caused concern among various LGBTQ+ and medical advocacy groups, which branded the ludicrous position as just that. Stonewall, Mermaids, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, and others, have demanded NHS England reverse a decision that essentially cuts off new referrals with little reasoning.
While it is an undoubtedly shocking development, it is by no means surprising to those who have been paying attention to NHS England’s – at- best – inconsiderate and, at worst, politically compromised, decision- making over the past few years.
Following an interim report by Dr. Hilary Cass, NHS England justified its decision to institute puberty blocker restrictions only in “exceptional circumstances” in June.
The interim report merely states that the model of care the NHS used at the time was outdated, which it was, which has been used to justify trans youth clinic closures, putting further restrictions on trans-under-18s ‘ access to healthcare, and which has now reportedly resulted in the end of all new prescriptions for puberty blockers at gender clinics.
The reality is that the waiting period for under-18s was up to 36 months prior to the Tavistock closure and subsequent restructuring, which has been delayed numerous times, making the wait even longer for the early stages of care.
In spite of a waiting list of at least 5, 000 people, the NHS in England prescribed puberty blockers last year, and, according to Mermaids, hardly any first appointments were made at the Gender Identity Development Service in 2023.
The NHS would rather turn its back on than address, leading to what has essentially turned into a disastrous stagnation. No amount of covering its ears and closing its eyes will magically make the dysphoria of these young people go away, try as it might.
Naysayers who have never met a single transgender person in their life and are fueled by shrill media fear-mongering pretend that dysphoria is something that can only be understood when you turn 18 years old. I can tell you first- hand that that could n’t be further from the truth.
Dysphoria is a silent killer that, if left unaddressed, can gnaw at you and turn you inside out. Like many other transgender people before me, and for those who followed, my teenage years were filled with anxiety and depression that did not go away with antidepressants or cognitive behavioral therapy, but could have been treated with the aid of crucial treatment that I was unable to access.
Teenage can have a significant impact on your adult life, and forbidding transgender people from having a comfortable childhood is simply not appropriate.
Study upon study show that, under the right system, puberty blockers can be life- changing and life- saving. In Australia, a body of research found that gender- affirming care halves suicidality among trans people and that, of those people undergoing puberty blocker treatment, less than one per cent detransition.
According to the Cass report, medical professionals were even urged to assist transgender people “at the earliest possible point in their journey” because studies have shown that doing so can save lives.
NHS England’s own website describes puberty blockers as “physically reversible” and, while it notes that the psychological effects need to be studied further, research shows that, in the right hands, they can be a life- changing intervention.
Those who spout comments about regret and puberty blockers being supposedly being handed out like sweets, are misinformed: regret rates in the UK make up about 0.47 per cent of patients in the gender identity clinic alone, while recent research found that, out of 548 people referred to Western Australia’s only youth gender service, only two detransitioned.
Perhaps NHS England is aware of these statistics, perhaps not. It is abundantly clear that transgender youth are not being respected or heard.
