UK: 382 Children Under 7 Sent to Trans Clinic

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Facts

  • According to data gathered by the Daily Mail, 382 children under seven were referred to the UK's Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) between 2012 and 2018, including 61 four-year-olds, 140 five-year-olds, and 169 six-year-olds. Run by the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, GIDS was shut down in 2022 after an independent review found it 'not safe' for children.1
  • Data from the trust also shows that the number of children it saw rose from 136 in 2010–11 to 3,585 in 2021–22. The trust said that no three-year-olds would have received 'treatment,' adding that staff would typically have 'one-off' conversations with parents or caretakers to give support or advice.2
  • In 2014, GIDS lowered the age to prescribe puberty blockers from 16 to 11, though four years later, Tavistock psychiatrist David Bell urged a halt to hormone therapy pending more research.3
  • In 2020, the High Court ruled it was 'highly unlikely' that a child under 13 could give informed consent to puberty blockers and 'doubtful' for those 14 or 15. In 2021, despite the watchdog Care Quality Commission rating GIDS as 'inadequate,' the Court of Appeal overturned the ruling.3
  • Former Health Minister Jackie Doyle-Price said the issue was that activist groups, not doctors, were referring these children to the transgender clinic. This comes as the government is considering imposing a minimum age of seven for future patients.2
  • With GIDS having built up an 8K-person waiting list, the two new regional transgender service centers established to replace it will only be able to take referrals from NHS general pediatric services or young people's mental health services.2

Sources: 1Times, 2Daily Mail and 3The Telegraph.

Narratives

  • Right narrative, as provided by The Telegraph. This is more evidence that the UK health system was under the dangerous spell of trans activism. As countries like the US continue to promote dangerous medical procedures for minors in the name of trans rights, Britain has taken action to prevent any more children from being placed in these centers. Whatever the age, children need time to grow before medically — and permanently — altering their bodies.
  • Left narrative, as provided by Guardian. The story of Tavistock is indeed tragic, but it has nothing to do with the reality of transgenderism and more to do with a faulty healthcare system. The clinic was largely run by junior staff, who, in the face of an unprecedented rise in patients, had only enough time and resources to prescribe medical intervention rather than therapy. The UK must not allow mistakes of the past to deprive the very real needs of the nation's transgender community.