Documentaries
The subtleties of gender dysphoria are explored in the first episode of Kids on the Edge (Vibe, Sky 006, Sunday, 8.30pm), a three-part Channel 4 series looking at young people’s mental health in the UK.
Film-maker Peter Beard, who has produced or directed a number of complex and challenging documentaries (including My Son the Jihadi and TV series Bedlam, both Bafta winners), follows two families with youngsters who do not identify with their birth gender.
In the UK, referrals to the Tavistock and Portman Gender Identity Development
Service have been increasing rapidly, up to 1400 in 2015 from just 40 in 2005. It is the only service in the UK for children with gender dysphoria, and it is where eight-year-old Ash (born Ashton) and 11-year Matt (born Matilda) are going for treatment.
From an early age, Ash told her mum, Terri, that she was a girl, but Matt’s situation is not so clear, as he is also on the autism spectrum and does
not communicate well with his mum, Rachel.
There are so many issues, including puberty-blocking hormones, to be discussed with the team. “There isn’t a right and a wrong,” says psychiatrist Dr Polly Carmichael.
The second episode features a school for children with complex problems, and the third features two self-harming girls also being treated at the Tavistock.