Clinic doubles referrals of transgender children

A SOARING number of Scottish children are identifying as transgender, with those receiving treatment for gender identity issues at one centre doubling in the past three years.

From January to October last year, 188 under-18s were referred to Scotland’s largest gender identity clinic – the Sandyford in Glasgow.

In comparison, only 90 children and adolescents were referred in 2014, a figure that rose to 137 in 2015, figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act reveal.

The Sandyford clinic offers specialist treatment to people with gender dysphoria, a condition caused by the mismatch between biological sex and gender identity.

Treatment includes the prescription of hormones to children of primary school age to ‘pause puberty’ – the first stage of a sex change. Teenagers are offered cross-sex hormone therapy from the age of 16 and sex change operations are available to adults over the age of 18.

In a BBC documentary that aired last week, Dr Kenneth Zucker, an expert in childhood gender dysphoria, said youths diagnosed as transgender could in fact be suffering from autism, anxiety or depression.

He said: ‘It is possible kids who have a tendency to get obsessed or fixated on something may latch on to gender.

‘Just because kids are saying something doesn’t necessarily mean you accept it, or that it’s true, or that it could be in the best interests of the child.’

Figures also reveal a substantial increase in the number of adults being referred to gender identity clinics in Scotland.

At the Sandyford, the figure has increased from 222 in 2014 to 324 in the first ten months of 2016. At the Chalmers Gender Identity Clinic in Edinburgh, the number of adult patients has almost trebled in the past three years, from 60 in 2013 to 176 in 2015.

James Morton, of the Scottish Transgender Alliance, said changing social attitudes meant more people than ever were coming out as transgender. He added: ‘There has definitely been a downward shift in the age of people coming out. People used to delay it because they were afraid of abuse.’

However, Stephanie Davies-Arai, who runs Transgender Trend, said: ‘Too many children are being put on an unnecessary path to lifelong medical intervention and sterilisation.

‘A child of 11, 12 or 13 is not mature enough to make the decision to have a permanent sex change.’ She also warned not enough attention was given to the side-effects of treatment, such as depression and infertility in girls linked to puberty blockers.

The increasing number of schoolchildren identifying as transgender has led to calls for politicians to tackle the ‘toxic environment of prejudice, physical and verbal abuse’ facing transgender pupils.

Last week, Nicola Sturgeon pledged support for the Time for Inclusive Education campaign, which lobbies for LGBT-inclusive education in schools.

The campaign is also backed by SNP councillor Rosa Zambonini who revealed last year her 13-year-old son Wesley was starting a new life as a schoolgirl called Charlie.

A spokesman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said the increase in referrals was being replicated in England and worldwide, suggesting legal changes improving LGBT rights and greater social acceptability may be behind the trend.

‘Unnecessary path to life-long intervention’