An independent review of treatment for children diagnosed with gender dysphoria in the Australian state of Queensland is in the planning stages, according to the state’s Chief Psychiatrist Dr John Reilly.
Dr Reilly revealed this in reply to a letter from child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr Jillian Spencer, who is a prominent critic of the “gender-affirming” treatment model used by the Queensland Children’s Hospital gender clinic.
Against the background of the European shift towards more cautious psychological approaches to gender dysphoria, Dr Spencer has raised serious concerns about puberty blockers preventing natural recovery from the distress of gender dysphoria; the sterilisation of children by hormonal treatment; uncertainty about informed consent and the risk of future lawsuits for negligence.
The Queensland gender clinic’s founder Dr Stephen Stathis recently acknowledged that the evidence base for the gender-affirming model’s hormonal treatments is “low quality”.
He said he no longer believed that puberty blockers offer children a “pause” before they embark upon irreversible treatment with cross-sex hormones. Data shows that almost all children started on blockers proceed to hormones.