Imagine the scenario. Your child is unhappy and says they want to change. The NHS gives you the green light, and you attend a clinic where a doctor prescribes puberty blockers to put your child’s development on pause while you work things out.
For many parents, this scenario might be hard to imagine. But it’s one I’ve had thoughts about since my daughter was two, and first described herself as a boy.
I can understand, therefore, how a family could find themselves at that junction. Before you know it, there are medications, treatments and procedures. Down the line, your child says that it was all wrong. There was never anything wrong with their body in the first place. And as the High Court decided in Keira Bell’s case against Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust last week, under-16s are “unlikely” to be able to give informed consent to such treatments.
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