Kids referred for puberty blockers after just ONE consultation at controversial gender clinic | The Sun
KIDS as young as 14 were referred for puberty blockers after just one consultation at a controversial transgender clinic, it has emerged.
Whistleblowers at the Tavistock Centre, which is due to be shut down, revealed the speed at which youngsters were put forward for life-changing drugs at the start of the transitioning programme.
Dr David Bell, who blew the whistle on the centre in 2018, said children were "terribly let down" at the North London clinic.
He claims he knew of at least one child sent for puberty blockers after one consultation.
He told The Telegraph: “They [patients] took the drugs and they went to opposite sex hormones and they had parts of their body removed, their breasts, their vaginas."
Dr Bell added how a victim of the clinic told him she did not have the body of a man but instead that of "a mutilated woman and that's what I have to live with’".
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The "regime” that kids went through to be prescribed the drugs were four to six hour-long appointments – a programme he described as "ludicrous".
But despite repeated complaints and concerns for welfare from a variety of sources, Tavistock pushed on regardless with its "unsafe" drugs programme and practices.
It comes amid desperate calls from parents and campaigners to end use of puberty blockers immediately, fearing they alter kids' brains.
Dr Hilary Cass, who is leading a review of Tavistock that began in March, warned the drugs could trigger the “rewiring of neural circuits” in youngsters wanting to transition.
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And she fears the puberty blockers could affect parts of the brain responsible for decision-making and judgment.
There are now calls for a public enquiry into the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust Centre, which remained open despite serious concerns over its practices for nearly 20 years.
The centre in Belsize Park, which opened in 1983, has seen a number of former staff also raise concerns about the dangers of early medical interventions in kids put onto puberty blocking drugs.
One of those include former patient Keira Bell, who started a programme of puberty blockers when she was 16 before ‘de-transitioning’.
She took Tavistock to court in 2020 arguing she had been too young to consent to life-altering medical treatment to become a male
She won her initial case. However, it was overturned on appeal after judges said it was for "doctors and not judges to decide on the capacity of a person under 16 to consent to medical treatment”.
Demand for the Gender Identity Development Service for Children and Adolescents (GIDS) at Tavistock soared from 138 in 2010-11 to 2,383 in 2020-21.
Since then it is feared thousands of kids have been damaged by the practices at the centre.
Other concerns raised have included “over-diagnosing” of gender dysphoria, and the increasing number of girls getting referred who question their gender identity.
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When Tavistock closes in September, people between the ages of 14 and 25 who believe they are trans will be moved into regional centres which that will take a more 'holistic' approach to treatment.
The creation of regional hubs, recommended by Dr Cass, will provide care and support.
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