Children should not be rushed to change gender, report to say
9 April 2024, 11:36 | Updated: 9 April 2024, 11:43
Children who want to change their gender may be suffering from mental health problems, a report will warn this week.
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Dame Hilary Cass' report on gender services for children will say that doctors should be cautious with their treatment of minors.
The Cass report into gender services for children will be published on Wednesday and will consider the "important role for schools" and the challenges these institutions face.
The report is expected to state that children who think they are transgender disproportionately suffer from mental health issues which come from difficult family situations or have suffered abuse.
These children are also more likely to be neurodiverse.
Therefore the report is expected to say that children should receive counselling which addresses the mental health issues they may have, instead of being rushed or put on drugs to change their gender.
Rishi Sunak has warned that allowing children to use different pronouns or to change their names could have psychological repercussions.
Such changes are "not a neutral act", according to the prime minister.
Concerns for 17 and 18-year-olds
The Cass report will also be expected to warn that it is incorrect to assume it is in the child’s best interest to change gender if they think they are trans.
Ahead of the final Cass report being published on Wednesday, sources said the paediatrician is majorly concerned by people as young as 17 being treated at adult gender clinics.
Last year, NHS England wrote to 17-year-olds on the Gids waiting list, offering them to transfer to an adult gender clinic.
Adult clinics offer medical treatments, such as cross-sex hormones, allowing a person to change their physical characteristics from one sex to another.
Medical treatments put young people on the path to medically transition, rather than holistic methods offered by youth gender services, according to campaigners.
The worry even extends to those over 18-years-old, as the brain continues to develop until the age of 25.
Caller: Parents 'should have a say' when it comes to children's education on transgender issues
Dame Hilary Cass is a paediatrician and former president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.
Her interim report, published in Feburary 2022, stated that "further consideration" would be required regarding the age at which people are transferred to adult services and also noted that adolescent clinical services continued past the age of 18 for other conditions.
The Cass review was commissioned four years ago after a significant increase in the number of referrals to the Gender Identity Development Service (Gids) at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust in north London.
In 2021-2022, over 5,000 referrals to Tavistock were reported by the NHS, compared to just under 250 who were questioning their gender identity ten years earlier.
The interim report called to create a "fundamentally different" approach to children and young people with gender dysphoria.
Gids clinic has shut since Cass's interim report, released in 2022, and was also given an "inadequate" rating by the Care Quality Commission.
There are two new NHS treatment hubs for young people with gender dysphoria located in the south of England, with the second being opened in the north this month after delays.
What has the government said about children and gender identity?
The warning from Wednesday's report comes during concerns that children are being allowed to change gender in school without their parent’s knowledge or consent, and after the routine prescription of puberty blockers was banned by NHS England
Ministers praised the "landmark decision" and said it was in children's "best interests".
The decision would help to ensure youngsters who feel their gender is not the same as their sex are treated using medical evidence, according to the government.
Although there is a loophole, campaigners have warned. Transgender children can still access puberty blockers from private clinics.
A spokesperson for the government said: "We have talked about the importance of children and adolescent safety and wellbeing being paramount.
"That is part of previous work such as the NHS announcement to end the routine prescription of puberty blockers, it is behind our robust and clear guidance to schools.
"It is categorical that social transitioning is not a neutral act and no one should be forced to use preferred pronouns or accept contested beliefs as fact.
"We've also said there’s more to do in this area and we will look at the review when it’s published."
He added: "The government has taken a number of steps in this area, recognising the effect that social transitioning can have on children and adolescents, and we’ve made clear that single-sex spaces must be protected."
