“Doctors caring for youngsters distressed about their gender have been told that it is not a ‘neutral act’ to help them transition socially by using their preferred new names or pronouns, the Times reports in a story on new guidelines issued by the National Health Service in the UK.
“The draft guidelines say doctors should ‘carefully explore’ all underlying health problems, including mental ill health, amid concerns that the NHS is rushing children on to irreversible puberty-blocker medication.”
The guidelines indicate that most pre-pubescent children are going through a phase when questioning their gender identity. “The NHS is strongly discouraging social gender transition in prepubertal children,” SEGM, the Society for Evidence-based Gender Medicine responds.
The new NHS approach discourages social transition in children.
“The clinical approach in regard to pre-pubertal children will reflect evidence that suggests that, while young people who are gender querying or who express gender incongruence may have started their journey as younger children, in most pre- pubertal children, gender incongruence does not persist into adolescence,” the guidelines state.
For adolescents that new approach will be determined by the level of distress, and emphasising psychological treatment rather than puberty blockers or surgery. “Psychological support and interventions provided directly by The Service, including family therapy/work, will focus on alleviating or preventing the onset of emotional problems, behavioural problems and social relationship problems, improving psychosocial health and global functioning, while responding to co-existing needs and conditions,”’ the new guidelines read.
The changes made in the new guidelines are seen in their careful terminology. “This service specification will refer to gender incongruence and gender dysphoria. The terms are not interchangeable. Gender incongruence is where the individual’s experience of their gender identity does not align with their biological sex. Gender dysphoria is present when the gender incongruence causes clinically significant levels of distress to the individual. Not all individuals with gender incongruence will experience dysphoria.”
The NHS has issued the draft guidelines in the wake of the damning interim Cass Report into the UK’s GIDS (Gender Identity Development Service) which was based in London’s Tavistock Institute, the guidelines are open for comment until December 4. The GIDS is being closed with the new guidelines applying to a new delivery system based in NHS regions. The Other Cheek reported on the Cass Report here.