A ground-breaking case in the High Court will decide this week whether the UK’s only gender identity development service (GIDS) for under-18s will be allowed to continue to prescribe puberty blockers for children as young as 10-years-old. The case against the Tavistock and Portman NHS trust, which runs GIDs, is currently conducting its own internal review as a response to the growing controversy surrounding its practice.
Keira Bell, now 23, was prescribed puberty blockers by GIDS when she was 16. Keira went on to use testosterone, before having a double mastectomy when she was 20. She now regrets transitioning, but may well be infertile as a side effect of the drugs she has taken.
Keira is hoping that her case will prevent further medical experimentation on children. ‘Transition was a very temporary, superficial fix for a very complex identity issue,’ she says.
I have interviewed a number of young lesbians who have de-transitioned back to being female during the last couple of years.
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