Children as young as three get transgender counselling on NHS

CHILDREN as young as three are being referred for counselling on the NHS for transgender feelings, it emerged yesterday.

The number of under-11s being treated at the country’s only specialist centre for children with gender issues has quadrupled in the past five years, figures reveal.

In total, 77 were referred there in 2014/15 – up from 19 in 2009/10, according to figures obtained by the BBC. This number included two children aged three, and 47 aged five or under.

Experts say the rise has come about because children are increasingly interested in ‘exploring their gender’ and parents are inclined to listen to them. But others say it is just a phase, and even the parents’ fault for influencing their child’s thoughts.

Children experiencing transgender feelings are referred for counselling and therapy at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, a specialist mental health centre which runs clinics in North London and Leeds.

Usually this consists of one-toone sessions with the child and a psychotherapist. Their parents are also offered counselling.

The NHS does fund sex-change operations at an average cost of around £10,000 but they are only offered for the over-18s. Patients also undergo hormone therapy.

Children and adults who believe they are the opposite sex are said to have a condition known as gender dysphoria. Scientists think it is caused by the abnormal development of the baby in the womb, as a result of either genetics or hormones.

This leads to the brain taking on a gender identity different from the biological organs. Experts say up to one in 125,000

‘Parents are seeking help’

has the condition but as many as 1 per cent of the population experience transgender feelings to some extent.

The Tavistock trust said it ‘would not generally consider it helpful to make a formal diagnosis in very young children’, and any physical intervention is not considered until a child approaches puberty.

Yesterday, the case of a six year old featured on BBC radio’s Victoria Derbyshire show.

He was born a boy but wanted to be a girl since he could talk, aged one. Now six, he wears nail varnish and enjoys dressing up in a fairy costume.

His mother, who referred to the child as ‘she’, said: ‘ As soon as she could talk I remember her coming in to my bedroom, I had a dress on and she was so excited about earrings and dresses.

‘The wider family have found it harder to understand.’ She said some of them think they should not have ‘ indulged’ the child. She also said she had been thinking ahead to whether the child would want to have surgery.

One listener, Jean, called the show to say: ‘The world has gone mad. Is this really what the child wants? Does she really know at this tender age or is it because the parents wanted a girl and influenced her thoughts?’

The Tavistock trust said: ‘There is not one straightforward explanation for the rise in referrals. Gender expression is diversifying, which makes it all the more important young people have the opportunity to explore their own path with the support of specialist services.’

Susie Green, of the charity Mermaids, which supports parents with children uncomfortable with their gender, said the group had been contacted by 60 families in the past three months.

She added: ‘More parents are seeking help now than trying to make it go away or ignore it.’