NHS sex-change ops soar, with some patients just 16

THE number of Scots having sexchange surgery on the NHS has soared, figures show.

Dozens of teenagers, some as young as 16, are among those going under the knife.

The NHS said funding had been provided for 702 operations in the past four years, with 194 so far in 2019-20.

There were 62 male to female operations funded last year – a 40 per cent increase in two years.

The cost of such surgery has been estimated to cost at least £10,000.

A total of 23 female to male procedures have been funded this year – more than double the number of two years ago. Chest reconstructions – having breasts removed to live as a man – rose to 125 last year, up a third on the previous year.

Overall, there have been 37 referrals of patients aged 16 or 17. Last night, Colin Hart, chairman of the Coalition for Marriage, which campaigns for traditional values, said: ‘These figures are deeply troubling, especially when you realise the youngest person to undergo this radical, irreversible surgery was 16.

‘We also do not know the full physical and psychological consequences of taking extremely powerful puberty blockers, hormones and hormone suppressants.

‘This is why it is vital that surgery on young people, below the age of 18, should be banned. When they have wanted to transition back to the original sex, they can’t.’

James Morton, manager of the Scottish Trans Alliance, said: ‘There continue to be extremely long waiting times of several years from referral to a gender identity clinic to receiving surgery, so only the most in need trans people persevere with accessing NHS surgery.

‘The NHS regularly provides various quality of life-improving surgeries for all kinds of health issues. Trans people pay tax like everyone else and are only receiving their fair share of healthcare.’

Most regional health boards were unable to provide specific figures.

But NHS Grampian said the number of patients referred to its gender identity clinics – and still on the ‘active caseload’ – had risen from 66 in 2016 to 82 last year. The board added that it ‘does not accept referrals for patients under 18’.

NHS Highland said 18 people had begun treatment to transition from male to female, and 18 from female to male, between 2016 and 2020.

NHS Lothian said the number of patients attending gender clinics rose from 442 in 2016-17, to 587 in 2019-20. However, many patients attended year after year, so the four-year total was 859.

Those who attend clinics and receive a transsexualism or gender dysphoria diagnosis then enter a 12-month pre-operative period, when they live as their chosen gender. During this time, they may receive hormone therapy, speech therapy, facial hair removal or mastectomy, and psychotherapy.

An NHS National Services Scotland spokesman said: ‘The NHS in Scotland has a well-established gender reassignment protocol, in place since 2012. It is designed to ensure an effective, equitable and sustainable service that is flexible for transgender patients.

‘Each patient’s request for assessment and treatment will be considered, in conjunction with clinicians, to meet individual needs.’

The Scottish Government is consulting on allowing people as young as 16 to self-identify as a different gender without a medical diagnosis. But the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill has proved controversial, with leading Nationalists branding the Government ‘misogynistic’. The Government said it ‘is important for young people and children who may be uncertain about their gender identity to be properly supported’.

‘These statistics are deeply troubling’