A parent hoping to block their transgender child from taking cross-sex hormones to become a boy says they accept the child’s gender dysphoria but don’t believe the underlying reasons were properly assessed.
Lawyers for the parent, referred to as Parent B, cited family dysfunction, adverse child experience, and internalised homophobia as other explanations for gender dysphoria.
But the child’s other parent, referred to as Parent A, who supported the prescription of testosterone, told the Federal and Family Court that Parent B was too “fixated on the why”.
The proceedings are governed by strict suppression orders preventing The Australian from printing key details about the family.
Barrister Belle Lane, leading Parent B’s legal team, argued the gender clinic should have “slowed down” the process from first appointment to gender dysphoria diagnosis and had issue with the fact the diagnosis and informed consent assessment took place over just two appointments. The court heard the time between the child coming out and being diagnosed with gender dysphoria was two years and eight months.
Parent B, wants their child to wait the 17 months until they turn 18, in order “to develop his own sexuality and idea of himself before it is impacted irreversibly”, the court heard, due to side-effects such as vaginal atrophy, sexual dysfunction, pelvic floor dysfunction, and infertility.