He believes concerns were ignored because the service was bowing to “political pressure” from trans lobby groups and because the clinic brought in a lot of money and prestige for the NHS trust. He said he knew of staff who say children have been referred for puberty blockers after one or two sessions and that he has “deep concern that any child should be put on medical treatment”. Stella O’Malley, psychotherapist and founder of Genspect, a support group for parents who concerned about treatment, they said they were “completely against puberty blockers” as children’s normal exploration of gender identity “should not be medicalised”. He called on the NHS to immediately stop using the drugs in cases of gender dysphoria, adding: “We cannot plead ignorance or pretend that the jury is out, the evidence is in and clearly there are many issues. “
“An exercise”
It comes after NHS England announced on Thursday it would follow Cass Review recommendations to close the Tavistock trans clinic and transfer young people to regional centers which will take a more “holistic” approach to treatment and consider whether other mental health conditions will could explain their gender discomfort. One parent, who has joined Genspect after her daughter’s transition, including a double mastectomy at 18, told The Telegraph on Friday that when they attended Tavistock doctors were very quick to confirm. Her daughter, then 14, said at her first appointment that she wanted puberty blockers, but was told she would have to do four sessions first. She was referred to an adult gender identity clinic, which offers cross-sex hormones and in some cases surgery, when she was 17. “I felt like Tavistock was just going through an exercise, they were asking me questions like ‘what toys did you play with as a child?’ he said. “What difference does that make?”