Children as young as 3 referred to NHS for transgender treatments

By: American Decency Staff

The number of young children – some as young as three – being referred to the UK's National Health Service for transgender treatments has quadrupled in the last six years, according to theTavistock and Portman Trust, a NHS center that specializes in gender issues for children under 18.

The mental health clinic reported that 77 children under 11 years old had been referred to its Gender Identity Development Service in 2014. Of those, 20 were only three or four years old.

In 2009-10 the center said it had 19 such referrals total.

A spokesperson for Tavistock and Portman Trust said that while gender dysphoria in children is a "complex and rare condition" which is "frequently associated with distress which may increase at puberty…there is not one straightforward explanation for the increase in referrals.”

He added that “it's important to note that gender expression is diversifying, which makes it all the more important that young people have the opportunity to explore and develop their own path with the support of specialist services."

Read More

---