High Court to decide if children can give informed consent on gender reassignment

 (Photo: Reuters)

The High Court is hearing a test case this week into whether children and teenagers can give informed consent to  gender reassignment treatment.

Opponents say that children under the age of 18 should not be allowed to use puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones because they are not able to give valid consent.

The judicial review has been brought by Susan Evans, a former staff member at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, the only gender identity development service (Gids) on the NHS in the UK.

She has raised over £20,000 through crowdfunding to cover the costs of the legal challenge against the trust and NHS England. 

She argues that "largely experimental" medical treatment for gender reassignment will put under-18s at unknown risk.

"The harm they might suffer could have lifelong consequences. Many professionals are now highly concerned about the treatments for under-18 gender dysphoric children and adolescents which remain largely experimental," she said, according to The Times

"There are so many unanswered questions that include the age at start, reversibility, serious adverse health events, long-term effects on mental health, neurological effects on cognitive functioning, the effect on bone density, circulatory systems and sexual functioning in adulthood.

"We cannot stand by and watch young people be part of an experimental medical treatment that exposes them to very significant risks."

She and "Mrs A", the mother of an autistic 15-year-old girl on the Gids waiting list, are being represented by Paul Conrathe, a solicitor with Sinclairslaw, who told The Observer: "We are essentially seeking to say that the provision at the Tavistock for young people up to the age of 18 is illegal because there isn't valid consent."

A spokeswoman for the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust told The Times that its "clinical interventions are laid out in nationally set service specifications". 

News
Disability cuts and assisted suicide would be a perfect storm
Disability cuts and assisted suicide would be a perfect storm

Many disabled people need to fight tooth and nail for the support that enables them to live. In the context of an assisted suicide law, hopeless and worn-down citizens who lack the support and solidarity they deserve may resign themselves to death.

Police investigating more Church in Wales clergy over historic sex offences
Police investigating more Church in Wales clergy over historic sex offences

Concerns were raised and apparently nothing was done.

Pills by post fuels 'heartbreaking' rise in abortions
Pills by post fuels 'heartbreaking' rise in abortions

Things are likely to get worse well before they get better.

Church body urges restraint in Armenian church conflict
Church body urges restraint in Armenian church conflict

Relations between the Armenian Apostolic Church and the government are currently strained.