Children can’t fully understand the lifelong repercussions of taking hormone blockers at an early age and thus can’t consent to the treatment, the lawyer for two women suing the UK’s only NHS-run youth gender clinic has claimed.
Transitioning youth who take hormone blockers have a “very high likelihood” of moving on to cross-sex hormones, which can cause “irreversible changes” such as “loss of fertility and sexual function, and decreased bone density,” Jeremy Hyam QC told the High Court on Wednesday, arguing that young people who begin the treatment are incapable of fully understanding the permanent damage they are doing to their bodies and thus cannot truly give “informed consent.”
With the number of children identifying as transgender having soared over the past decade, this case could have major repercussions for the growth industry of youth gender clinics. Earlier this year, the NHS announced an independent review of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, and has since commissioned detailed clinical guidelines for how children are to be evaluated prior to transitioning.
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