Sex-change drugs ‘for 14-year-olds’

DOCTORS should give sex-change drugs to children as young as 14 if they think they are transgender, says an influential organisation that helps set policies worldwide.

The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) also says girls should be able to have surgery to ‘masculinise’ their chests when they reach 15.

Under NHS guidelines, ‘cross-sex’ hormones that start a physical transition can only be given from 16 and surgery is not allowed until 18.

But WPATH – whose recommendations are in a set of draft ‘standards’ put out for consultation – believes this is too late and may cause ‘lifelong harm’.

The proposals represent a big change in how the US-based organisation thinks ‘gender diverse’ teens should be treated. Until now it has emphasised the use of puberty-blocker drugs to freeze physical development, but it is advocating moving sooner to irreversible cross-sex hormones and surgery.

WPATH is referred to frequently by NHS organisations providing transgender services.

Last night, Stephanie Davies-Arai, of pressure group Transgender Trend, said: ‘Fourteen is no age to be making such huge, irreversible decisions. I don’t think anyone that age is able to give proper informed consent to take crosssex hormones.

‘And 15 is much too young to have a double mastectomy, when you can’t have a tattoo in the UK until you are 18.’

Among WPATH’s arguments for lowering the ages are concerns over the potential long-term side effects of puberty blockers, such as weaker bones in adulthood and ‘potential neurodevelopmental’ problems. The organisation has previously waved away such concerns and insisted that blockers are ‘fully reversible’.

The group also cites ‘emerging evidence’ that ‘early medical intervention ... can be effective’ for teenagers with gender identity issues, but accepts the number of studies is limited, involved only a small number of participants and focused on those who started questioning their gender when they were young children.

WPATH was contacted for comment but failed to respond.