More than 70 children aged three and four were sent to the United Kingdom’s NHS dedicated pediatric transgender clinic before it was shut down, according to a report from Daily Mail.
Reportedly, the 70 children were among 382 total aged six and under who were referred to the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) over the past decade. Now, officials are reportedly considering making the minimum age of seven to be referred to a gender clinic (via Daily Mail):
A new consultation by NHS England also acknowledges that little boys showing an interest in girls' clothes or toys, or vice versa, is 'reasonably common' and 'usually not indicative of gender incongruence'.
Statistics shown to Daily Mail indicate that the GIDS clinic, run by the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust in north London, saw 136 children from 2010-11 to 3,585 in 2021-22.
A total of 12 three-year-olds, 61 four-year-olds, 140 five-year-olds, and 169 six-year-olds were referred to the clinic over those years. The NHS trust that runs GIDS reportedly stated that no three-year-olds received any gender treatment.
“They should never have been seeing three-year-olds,” former health minister Jackie Doyle-Price told the outlet. “There needs to be a clear message that goes out to let kids be kids. Let them play and use their imaginations. We shouldn't be medicalising something which is just growing up.”
Stephanie Davies-Arai of the organization Transgender Trend told Daily Mail that “children really don’t need gender clinics.”
“Unfortunately, some parents are now worried that their gender non-conforming child may have been 'born in the wrong body' and need professional help. This has been pushed by transgender activists who have no understanding of perfectly normal childhood developmental stages,” she added, explaining that the issue with a new minimum age of seven is that the parent may have been “socially transitioning” the child for years, convincing them that they are, in fact, transgender.
“What's really needed is sensible training for all NHS health professionals who can advise parents on ways to support their child to be happy as they are, without the need for future hormones or surgery,” she added.
The closure of the clinic came in response to recommendations from an “expert review.” The review criticized the clinic’s long waiting lists and “raised concerns over a lack of consensus about how the health service should assess, diagnose and treat young people seeking gender services,” Reuters noted.
Last year, when news broke that the Tavistock clinic would close its doors, the NHS issued a warning this week that most children who identify as “transgender” are going through a “transient phase," which Townhall reported.
“The clinical approach has to be mindful of the risks of an inappropriate gender transition and the difficulties that the child may experience in returning to the original gender role upon entering puberty if the gender incongruence does not persist into adolescence,” the report stated.
The report added that “social transitioning” should not be seen as a “neutral act” due to the impact it makes on a child’s psychology. Social transitioning includes going by a different name, using “preferred pronouns” and dressing like the opposite gender. In some cases, they will use bathrooms that align with their gender identity instead of their biological sex.
“Social transition should only be considered where the approach is necessary for the alleviation of, or prevention of, clinically significant distress or significant impairment in social functioning and the young person is able to fully comprehend the implications of affirming a social transition,” the draft read.
At the time, Daily Mail reported that at least 15 children under the age of 4 years old were referred to the Tavistock clinic to undergo “gender-affirming” care.
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