Good to see that individual members of the public overwhelmingly share our concerns about current trends in #NHS Gender Identity Services. engage.england.nhs.uk/survey/gender-…
Also good to see that the public is aware of the number of teenage girls with Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria #ROGD and the cultural pressure on young lesbians and gays to ID as trans. And the call for #NHS to publicise organisations with a more critical perspective.
Well done to everyone who pointed out that current #NHS professional training is provided by lobby groups such as GIRES who have no qualifications, and that training should obviously be provided by clinical professionals.
Thanks to the British Psychological Society for emphasising the need for psychosocial and psychotherapeutic intervention in the gender care pathway.
Excellent points raised by individuals and families of young people suffering gender dysphoria.
Reasons given for opposing the move to adult services for 17 year-olds:
We hope that the #NHS will take these concerns seriously; all GIDS clinicians and therapists need to have an awareness of the specific pressures on adolescent girls and their susceptibility to social contagion.
Caution is especially needed because of the lack of research and evidence base for this medical pathway for young people. This is an experiment. #NHS cannot leave this up to lobby groups.
And finally, @NHSEngland, what is a "cis-gendered female"?
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#ROGDWEEK2018 is a chance for parents' voices and testimonies to be heard. We will be adding parents' testimonies to this thread, feel free to add your own.
"I am the mother of a now 18 year old who suddenly announced two years ago that she had been born into the wrong body. There had been nothing during her childhood to start alarm bells ringing. I deplore the current media exposure which only ever seems to portray happy outcomes"
"My 14 year old daughter has recently “come out” as transgender. She's never had any signs of this throughout her childhood. She has had a lot of emotional upset in her short life. The school is insisting that they will call her by her chosen male name whether we like it or not"
Listen to Polly Carmichael of @TaviAndPort talking here in October last year. She acknowledges the 'significant' rise in female referrals and that this trend is not only seen in the UK but in Europe and US too. acamh.org/event/gender/
Recognises that many young people come forward after seeing something on tv or online, we can't explain the increase in females and that there are concerns about young women who previously would have had an outcome around sexuality now having an outcome around gender.
Recognises that there has been a change in the nature of referrals and that many coming through now have significant associated difficulties, eg. anxiety, being in care, abuse, social difficulties, ASD, so counselling is important and just a medical approach is retrogressive.