So, is NHS right to offer this treatment to 9-year-olds?

YES

CHAIR OF MERMAIDS, THE SUPPORT GROUP FOR YOUNG PEOPLE WITH GENDER IDENTITY ISSUES

MAKING hormone blockers available on the NHS in the early stages of puberty is a hugely positive step.

For many years, desperate British parents have had to almost bankrupt themselves travelling to get treatment in Holland or the US.

The blockers offer the only chance for them to stop the terrible trauma their children have started to go through as they begin to develop into a sex they feel is absolutely alien to them.

If you offer hormone blockers at the end of puberty, that is too late.

Their body shape will have already changed and they will have had to live through physical developments that have caused massive distress.

The self-harm and suicide rate among transgender teens is extremely high so offering blockers saves lives. It’s quite simple.

And they are completely reversible, so puberty will resume normally if they cease to be taken.

Studies have shown that young people given this treatment in the early stages of puberty have better psychological wellbeing, self-confidence and self-esteem.

Society has to accept that some people may not fit with their birth gender. In which case it’s surely our responsibility to help them.

Blockers are a way of pressing the pause button and giving people the choice to be the person they feel they are. What is wrong with that?