• Latest
  • All
Infamous children’s gender clinic in UK ordered to shut down

Infamous children’s gender clinic in UK ordered to shut down

July 28, 2022
Million Person March: Canadians bravely stand up for children, oppose gender indoctrination in schools

Million Person March: Canadians bravely stand up for children, oppose gender indoctrination in schools

September 21, 2023
California allows pro-life outreach center to continue sidewalk campaign near Planned Parenthood clinic

California allows pro-life outreach center to continue sidewalk campaign near Planned Parenthood clinic

September 19, 2023
Senator Hawley calls for investigation into Washington University’s protocols for transitioning minors

Senator Hawley calls for investigation into Washington University’s protocols for transitioning minors

September 19, 2023
Georgia: Government and Church united in opposing the spread of LGBT propaganda

Georgia: Government and Church united in opposing the spread of LGBT propaganda

September 18, 2023
Archbishop Viganò’s sermon highlights evil of abortion and its connection to Satanism

Archbishop Viganò’s sermon highlights evil of abortion and its connection to Satanism

September 18, 2023
Family in Iran is under attack through media and virtual space

Family in Iran is under attack through media and virtual space

September 13, 2023
Laurence Fox speaks out against ruling limiting girl’s right to life-supporting treatment

Laurence Fox speaks out against ruling limiting girl’s right to life-supporting treatment

September 12, 2023
Thumbs up–spotlight on the good things happening in the world

Novak Đoković: I’m sad that sport has become a business through betting bars

September 12, 2023
Trump announces intent to defund “transgender insanity”

Trump announces intent to defund “transgender insanity”

September 11, 2023
Chloe Cole censored on Instagram for sharing detransition journey

Chloe Cole censored on Instagram for sharing detransition journey

September 11, 2023
  • About iFamNews
  • Contact

Navigation Button Subscribe

  • Subscribe
September 22, 2023
  • Login
  • Register
No Result
View All Result
  • English
    • Italiano
    • Español
    • Français
    • Deutsch
    • Polski
    • српски
    • Русский

Navigation Button Donate

  • Donate
International Family News Network (IFN)
  • Home
  • Opinion
  • Life
  • Family
  • Culture
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Science
  • Shows
  • Petitions
  • Subscribe
  • Donate
International Family News Network (IFN)
  • Home
  • Opinion
  • Life
  • Family
  • Culture
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Science
  • Shows
  • Petitions
  • Subscribe
  • Donate
No Result
View All Result
International Family News Network (IFN)
No Result
View All Result

Infamous children’s gender clinic in UK ordered to shut down

While we welcome the news of GIDS closing its doors at least for a while, what has just happened is perhaps a Pyrrhic victory, as Dr Cass’s report suggests opening more gender services across the country.

Marija Stajić by Marija Stajić
July 28, 2022
in Breaking News, Foreground, Science
2.2k
Reading Time: 4 mins read
0
Infamous children’s gender clinic in UK ordered to shut down

Image: Alamy

Share on FacebookShare on WhatsAppShare on TelegramShare on TwitterShare on WeChat

The British NHS just issued an order for the infamous Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) within the Tavistock and Portman NHS foundation trust to close until spring 2023 after the UK’s only gender identity clinic for children was criticised in an independent review.

NHS upheld recommendations from Dr Hilary Cass, a pediatrician who was tasked with compiling an independent review of gender identity services for children and young people. In 2021, the Care Quality Commission graded GIDS as ‘Inadequate’, which is the lowest possible rating. It found that the safety of services offered by GIDS required improvement and that staff were poorly led.

While we welcome the news of GIDS closing its doors at least for a while, the news of the gender clinic being forced to shut its doors for a while is perhaps a Pyrrhic victory, as Dr Cass’s report suggests opening more gender services across the country to resolve the problem of GIDS’ long waiting lists and to better meet patients’ needs. We can only hope that this will indeed lead to patients with gender referrals actually getting better medical care and having doctors and other professionals paying sufficient attention to their individual histories and circumstances.

Still, the report also noted a lack of “open discussion” about gender dysphoria and that the clinic practiced “predominantly an affirmative, non-exploratory approach, often driven by child and parent expectations”.

Scandal-ridden history of GIDS

GIDS was set up more than three decades ago “for children and young people, and their families, who experience difficulties in the development of their gender identity.” However, recently there have been increasing and alarming reports about the clinic rushing its patients into transition too quickly, some even as young as three.

Back in 2018, a distinguished psychiatrist and practicing psychoanalyst David Bell wrote a controversial report about GIDS’ activities, where he worked from 1995 until his retirement in 2021. The fears expressed in the report were shared by parents of transgender children, who also raised their concerns about the clinic “fast-tracking” young people into life-altering decisions, without sufficiently analyzing and assessing their personal and individual specificities and histories. The case of Keira Bell, a former patient at Tavistock, is an example of a young person being rushed into medical transition and surgery, and later regretting this mostly irreversible decision.

Keira Bell, after detransitioning back to her biological, female sex. Photo: Paul Cooper/Shutterstock

The Tavistock management did not react well to Dr. Bell’s whistleblowing–it tried to silence him and instituted proceedings against him, going so far as to remove his book from the trust’s library. Dr. Bell was approached by another 10 GIDS staff over the following months who had similar concerns and were severely troubled by what they had witnessed at the clinic. Their concerns included children who seemed to be rehearsed in what they said to the staff; treatments that were recommended to children after only two appointments; employment of too many inexperienced (and therefore inexpensive) psychologists.

In 2021, the Guardian reported on this, saying that one of the staff told Dr. Bell that a child only eight years old had been referred to an endocrinologist for treatment. “I could not go on like this… I could not live with myself given the poor treatment the children were obtaining,” said another.

Steep increase in referrals

The UK gender clinic saw a surge in gender referrals over the past years. In 2009 it saw 80 patients, and by 2019 the figure had grown to 2,700. Dr Cass’s report acknowledges the steep increase in young gender incongruent patients, but makes no attempt to find out the reasons for that increase. Instead, it recommends opening more services in the country.

On the bright side, it touches on the issue of diagnostic overshadowing, noting that “many of the children and young people presenting have complex needs, but once they are identified as having gender-related distress, other important healthcare issues that would normally be managed by local services can sometimes be overlooked.” This is very important given the number of cases of children within the autism spectrum, or those with disabilities and other development issues who are convinced by their parents and/or medical staff that the issues they face are in fact due to them being “trapped in the wrong body”.

Also, individuals otherwise healthy, but suffering from trauma, depression and similar mental health issues are rushed into gender treatments and only too late do they realize that surgery and cross-sex hormones did nothing to resolve their issues–rather the opposite. In fact, Dr Cass’s report stated that there has been a “dramatic change” in who is being referred, with more children registered female at birth, neurodiverse children and children with mental health needs. Let us hope that doctors in the UK and elsewhere will adopt a more cautious approach to children and youth with gender dysphoria and get to the root cause of their condition in order to offer them safe and adequate treatment.

Tags: gender clinicgender transitionGIDSKeira Bellprotection of childrenpuberty blockersSex changeTavistock
Marija Stajić

Marija Stajić

Marija Stajic is a co-editor of The Orthodox Christian Parent web portal, board member at Belgrade-based Pro-Life Centre charitable organisation, and member of the Serbian Scientific Centre. She holds an M.A. in English Language and Literature, and has extensive experience in translation and interpreting. She writes, edits and translates pieces on family-related and human rights issues, including freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and bioethical issues, such as abortion and euthanasia. Marija is the author of Roe v.Wade: social circumstances that led to the legalisation of abortion in the USA, the first published scientific paper in Serbia about the landmark SCOTUS decision. She is very passionate about women’s reproductive health and is the first licenced FEMM educator in Serbia. She launched her personal website on fertility awareness Profemme.

Discussion about this post

Popular News

  • Laurence Fox speaks out against ruling limiting girl’s right to life-supporting treatment

    Laurence Fox speaks out against ruling limiting girl’s right to life-supporting treatment

    0 shares 825 VIEWS
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Novak Đoković: I’m sad that sport has become a business through betting bars

    5 shares 786 VIEWS
    Share 5 Tweet 0
  • Chloe Cole censored on Instagram for sharing detransition journey

    10 shares 499 VIEWS
    Share 10 Tweet 0
  • California allows pro-life outreach center to continue sidewalk campaign near Planned Parenthood clinic

    32 shares 356 VIEWS
    Share 0 Tweet 32
  • Family in Iran is under attack through media and virtual space

    26 shares 305 VIEWS
    Share 26 Tweet 0

IFN – International Family News Network

© 2022 IFN – International Family News - All Rights Reserved.

Quick Links

  • About iFamNews
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Opinion
  • Life
  • Family
  • Culture
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Science
  • Shows
  • Petitions
  • Subscribe
  • Donate

  • en English
  • it Italiano
  • es Español
  • fr Français
  • de Deutsch
  • pl Polski
  • sr српски
  • ru Русский
  • Login
  • Sign Up

© 2022 IFN – International Family News - All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
Subscribe