Isn't Helen Webberley still prevented from providing services in UK?

I also think to infer that they are villains rushing vulnerable adults into unregulated care with untested medicines would be quite wide of the mark and stems from an attitude that positions being trans as always the undesirable outcome. They follow well established pathways common to other developed countries.

What's clear (from this thread at least) is that the currently suspended Drs Webberley & their unregulated online clinic have some very loyal patients/customers.

The same was true for Russell Reid

Wiki
"In 2006-2007, Reid was investigated by the General Medical Council (GMC), the regulatory body for doctors in the UK. A serious professional misconduct hearing opened following complaints brought by four doctors from the main NHS Gender Identity Clinic at Charing Cross hospital, west London, and some of his former patients. It is alleged that he breached international standards of care, set by the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association (HBIGDA) by inappropriately prescribing cross-gender hormones to patients and referring them for sex reassignment surgery without adequate assessment.

Britain's primary lobbying organization for transgender and transsexual people, Press for Change, was quoted as saying that Reid received support during the process from more than 150 patients as well as additional experts in the area. Ultimately, the enquiry found Reid guilty of Serious Professional Misconduct, mostly for failing to communicate fully with patients GPs and not documenting his reasons for departing from the HBIGDA Standards of Care guidelines sufficiently. However, the panel "determined that it would be in the public interest as well as your own interests if you were to return to practice under strict conditions." and allowed him to return to practice, subject to some restrictions on his practice and hormone prescriptions for the next 12 months.

Reid was a member of an expert committee set up by the Royal College of Psychiatrists to draw up new UK care guidelines on the treatment of Gender identity disorder" (continues)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell_Reid

Russell Reid was also supportive of the amputations of healthy limbs for patients identified as having 'body dsymorphia' & seeking the operation.
This was ruled unacceptable/unethical practice by NHS (2000)

For me, because no matter how hard i tried i could not come to terms with my own body. I do think being able to do so would have been easier but I couldn't.

Lots of us have to come to terms with our bodies though. I have one that doesn't let me do the things I used to love and could kill me at any moment. Why is gender dysphoria different?

*desister

It was years ago that I read about or listened to the transperson (or possibly desisted) who talked about how transition had really limited them in other areas of their life. The travel problem sticks in my mind, but there is also a general reduction in quality of life by being dependent on medication and having to continually be involved with the medical community. That is something that most of us want to avoid. It may sound small, but when it starts with puberty blockers in your teens and continues for... then that is quite a drudge (and that is, of course, before dealing with the medical problems that may be induced by the medication).

So you do agree that it is better to avoid medical transition if at all possible?

And the experience of a HSTS male is going to be completely different to that of a ROGD female.

Webberley was prescribing testosterone, a class c controlled substance to a 12 year old natal girl.

I'm a trans woman who dates men
Ah, got it. I can believe you are subject to a lot of homophobia then. It must be very difficult.

My point is you cannot freely travel the world with a class c stub stance in your backpack.

DuLANG

I'm not sure that class C drugs are only accessible in the UK? Most trans people travel just fine apart from a the odd rude encounter with the border people in the US who can be overly fond of th odd intimate search. Perhaps that's a consequence of Trump/Pence and their MAGA thing.

They are but, the assessment criteria aren't dictated by the patients therefore, not so much now, but in days gone by patients may have presented to the clinician in a fashion that may be described as a bit more binary than they normally would.

Its a symbiotic relationship between 'gender specialists' & patients (who, in the context of private practice, are also customers)

Oldcrone

For me, because no matter how hard i tried i could not come to terms with my own body. I do think being able to do so would have been easier but I couldn't. So, the hormonal and surgical pathway was a better option than the misery or carrying on trying.

quentin

No, to hurt your head more, i am a believer in biological sex just not one that was overly comfortable with my own. I'm a trans woman who dates men or has a man to be more accurate, one is enough! That said, I don't exclude trans men from my sexual preferences either just to complicate matters further but that's another debate.

I guess in the UK we are still at the position where being trans is the undesirable outcome for many so I'm likely not going to convince many.

Can you explain why you think that having major irreversible surgery (and all the risks that entails) and a lifetime requirement for opposite sex hormones is preferable to being able to come to terms with the body you were born with?

I'd be surprised that such a common medication can't be accessed the world over if required.

Testosterone is a class C controlled substance.

it is very unlikely that they will be diagnosed

Well yes, because we aren’t taking her anywhere near a gender doctor! She isn’t trans, but she does (suddenly) sincerely hate her sexed body and would rather be male. Classic ROGD, but according to activists, that doesn’t exist and everyone is trans if they think they might be trans.

And then pushing for informed consent and no diagnostics? It’s bollocks and gender distressed teenager deserve better.

Paleblue

I don't minimise the effect of hormone treatments ut in the main considering the position i came from the effects were personally positive.

As for restricting personal freedom, apart from the present HRT shortage, I'd be surprised that such a common medication can't be accessed the world over if required. As for my dependency on health care I'm not sure my twice weekly patch change in an otherwise physically healthy body comes anywhere near the dependency of a non insulin dependent diabetic or someone with self induced COPD etc... But, I guess in the UK we are still at the position where being trans is the undesirable outcome for many so I'm likely not going to convince many. But, that's their problem not mine.

"Trans and gay" hurts my head. I'm assuming you mean a trans woman in a relationship with another woman? And you get abuse for holding your female partners hand from a minority of people?

That's awful and shouldn't be happening. However I don't believe there is anywhere in the world you could reliably avoid it, and in many less progressive countries than ours you would get state sponsored actions to prevent that happening.

I agree with you that noone should have any medical intervention on the basis of gender dysphoria until they are over 18. Sadly Drs Webberley dont agree

DuLANG

I wish you luck with your child, being trans is not the easy route. There is no room for grooming taking over medical diagnosis, I agree with you on that. Statistically, even with symptoms it is very unlikely that they will be diagnosed but, that is something you as a family will have to work through if it happens. Good luck to you.

Rowantrees

They are but, the assessment criteria aren't dictated by the patients therefore, not so much now, but in days gone by patients may have presented to the clinician in a fashion that may be described as a bit more binary than they normally would.

That said there are plenty cross dressers and transvestites around who in the main seek no medical treatment who have been known to dress a bit outrageously. These could be useful if there was a need to muddy the waters or to further a particular opinion such as all transsexual people wear overly feminised clothing etc...

Personally I think social conservatism is more likely found in the conservative shires. That said, even they have been known to present a bit of a front.

Dysphoria is being replaced with ‘gender incongruence’, so the definition and diagnostic criteria for gender dysphoria is soon fo be obsolete.

I am just a person with an adolescent daughter who has been groomed into thinking she’s a boy.
If there were an objective test for transsexualism the grooming issue would fall away.

It’s the grooming that the public will not stand for.

You may be right that transsexuals generally all want medical intervention (by the nature of that condition) but the point is that there are many people who suffer from gender dysphoria who are not transsexuals.

I have wondered what role publicity & licencing of 'sex-change' operations & the characterisation of a complex range of needs & distresses as 'gender dysphoria' has had on generating the demand for sugery/medical intervention.

Here I am using transsexual to mean someone who wants to be the opposite sex, not just the opposite gender. Plus wanting to be the opposite sex might be something you stop wanting to be eg following therapy or social transition.

DuLANG

Gender Dysphoria is already defined. Of course if you have a greater insight than those who have already defined it I'm sure they'll be thrilled to hear from you. I'm not the person you need to asking to pursue a different avenue to the current pathway. I was just a patient who for what its worth definitely believes that there is a mental health element to it. That said, I'd be more than pleased if they found a particular DNA sequence somewhere common to trans people that coded for a higher chance of developing GD. I'm not sure that some others would fare so well from that particular discovery though.

Trying to make it go away is a common theme in a mildly socially conservative society like the UK

IMO social conservatism is more likely to be found within the trans community & medical practitioners.

The assessment criteria for 'gender dysphoria' children and/or for assessing if an adult has been living in the 'social sex role' of the opposite sex are largely based on sexist stereotypes.

You are right that it cannot be accessed without gender dysphoria, but there are moves (with some success) to say variously that gender dysphoria is not a disorder, that gender dysphoria should not require distress and/or that gender dysphoria should not be a prerequisite to access to hormones and treatment.

I am slightly concerned that you are minimising the effects of hormone treatments, which appear to have many number of side effects. Also, the mere fact of having to remain on hormones if this treatment is used creates a dependency on healthcare which curtails individual freedom (I vaguely remember from ages ago someone who wanted to travel the world, but couldn’t because they couldn’t be sure to access the ongoing treatment they needed.

You may be right that transsexuals generally all want medical intervention (by the nature of that condition) but the point is that there are many people who suffer from gender dysphoria who are not transsexuals.