A Transchild, the Tavistock, Mermaids and GenderGP

Even to the extent of working with suspended GPs? Gosh.

But GP’s don’t recognise Gendergp

Some GPs don’t, but enough do. It’s a very grey area and that the Webberley’s can continue to operate in this way is abhorrent. I personally think GenderGP is a bigger and more dangerous problem than Mermaids.

(MyWebDoctorUK is Helen Webberley)

mobile.twitter.com/MyWebDoctorUK/status/1294579048950243329
But is this actually happening 🤔 ”GMC advice states that GPs must co-operate with gender identity clinics and specialists to provide effective and timely treatment for trans and non-binary people.”
bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/gp-practices/gp-service-provision/managing-patients-with-gender-dysphoria… via @ TheBMA

mobile.twitter.com/SaoirseWilliams/status/1294598561565413377
But GP’s don’t recognise Gendergp

mobile.twitter.com/StephDale68/status/1294630129180737542
I think you'll find they do. They might initially question the whole process, but it quite clearly states in GMC & BMA guidelines, that ALL GP's should be required to put patient wellbeing first & foremost. Even, to the extent of, taking on prescribing bridging prescriptions.

Last month I noted some tweets which show that Helen Webberley is looking to get the Webberleys suspended license to practice medicine lifted.

mobile.twitter.com/GenderGP/status/1278321633946734597

“At GenderGP when we put telemedicine at the heart of our service we broke the mould - now everyone is doing it!”
@ MyWebDoctorUK on GenderGP's role in pioneering telemedicine for the trans community.
Watch the Liveatream here, facialteam.eu/blog/ffs-surgery/livestream-facialteam/

mobile.twitter.com/stephenwhittle/status/1278363363760889857

History 1: 1975 Manchester GP barred after providing hormones to trans man. 2018 @ GenderGp has licence to practice removed for providing a service to those who were waiting years, not months, to see a specialist. Thank you for still here and leading from the front today

mobile.twitter.com/MyWebDoctorUK/status/1278388996473794560

One simple reason. It’s a very worthy cause!! I am still fighting for the suspension on my license to practice medicine to be lifted, I haven’t been able to work in my profession for three hard years. However, I keep on campaigning, fighting and advocating. 💪

It’s a national shame and a scandal all of this. It doesn’t bear thinking of how fundamentally and damagingly, kids and parents are being taken advantage of. everyone affected by this.

If young girl socially transitions from the age of six or earlier, goes onto cross sex hormones at puberty and grows up among teen age boys, then grows into adulthood with them, finds her peer' lives as male adult humans grow and change and diverges from hers, then she may find herself in a no man's land of no longer fitting in with her peers, but not socialised as her female peers. Like people brought up in a culture or country away from their origins find that rather than have feet in two camps, they don't quite belong in either. Only on lifetime medication.

DifficultPifcultLemonDifficult I’m glad your child had the time to navigate their own path through this with their eyes wide open. You did right.

My experience of them was almost identical. Immediate push to start socially transition my son, suggested I should make demands that my son should be allowed to use the girls toilets and wear a dress to school, and strongly urged me to insist on a referral to the Tavistock, “just in case we needed it when he got to the top of the list”. He was 6 at the time. We backed off sharpish and are grateful to have listened to our gut instinct. The cheerleading from other parents already committed to this path, and the secrecy surrounding the whole thing is frightening.

You did the right thing thank you, I dont hear that a lot.

My experience of joining mermaids was answering literally a couple of questions, pretty much my name and the name and age of my child and my number.

Someone called me back within a day, and, before knowing any details at all started saying I was doing the right thing, they didn't know anything about our situation.

Being on there brought threads and threads about how to con doctors into giving medication faster, 4 year old boys who liked barbies being called she and trans and lots and lots of advice about constant affirmation, all the time, almost brainwashing really.

It's not good.

Fucking. Hell.

That is all.

Full disclosure- I read the transcript rather than listening. But it seemed very much as if Arthur's mother talked over him and interrupted a lot. This may simply be nerves from being on s podcast but I wonder if that is the case in real life?

I would love to know how often Mermaids contact social services and others in response to any worrisome things that come out.

Worrisome things like uncooperative parents...

I think the mother is saying that they heard about GenderGP via Mermaids Itsallgoingtobefine.

So the NHS tells a mother it is not right to trans their daughter. So Mermaids send them to a now struck of GP instead

I would love to know what proportion of families are advised by Mermaids that the child is not trans, that something else is going on.

I would love to know how often Mermaids contact social services and others in response to any worrisome things that come out.

We know from the Tavistock that children who reject their body due to probable sexual abuse have presented as having dysphoria. I would thus expect similar cases to have made it to Mermaids. I would expect them to have contacted social services / police accordingly given they are deeply concerned with the mental health and well being of young people.

In addition, I haven't seen much from Mermaids about how they deal with the parents who are homophobic and are trying to trans the gay out of their child. We know it happens sadly. How often do Mermaids spot it? How do they train their staff to detect it? What do they do if they suspect disguised homophobia?

I'm not seeing much public material from them along the lines of "how to know you are not trans and you are going through something else difficult and here's how you can get help for that instead"

@TorkTorkBam - completely so. Even worse because puberty blockers have a big effect on bone density. Which might recover once male hormones are started. Might.

At about the same time Arthur, still nine years old, went to a Mermaids residential where they met Helen Webberley and many older trans people

Grim.

Doctor who ran illegal transgender clinic offering sex-change hormones to kids moves business abroad
www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/helen-mike-webberley-gender-gp-16297750

rogdmum I was the same, I outlined my mermaids experience to the teacher recommending this and she was horrified, they get given some leaflets and don't research it themselves, but she said that she was told this is the advice they have, so she has to keep recommending mermaids to anyone who asks for help.

If a parent trusts professionals completely and everyone is signposting that this is the way to help your kid, it's completely understandable that they take the advice.

Did you end up getting any help elsewhere?

I had to work 4 jobs to pay for a private therapist. My child is now an adult, and looks set to go down the route of hormones and surgery, but they are extremely grateful that I gave them that option and that I was honest about all of the negative side effects. My child is 100% fully informed, although any negative effects are completely glossed over in the clinics for children.

Puberty blockers were referred to as 'thinking time'.

I presume someone will have mentioned to Arthur the risks of fighting males?

Doesn't really matter if it is a free for all in sports for Arthur's olympic dreams does it?

Arthur was assigned female at birth so I would be very surprised if at eighteen years old Arthur will be beating people assigned male at birth in a martial art men's category, even if Arthur is allowed to take loads of performance enhancing drugs to compensate for being afab.

Based on that transcript Arthur seems to be being told that Arthur is transitioning to being a man.

Legally, yes, Arthur will most likely become a man at adulthood. The legal document won't make a difference to the physical impact made by an amab punch landing on Arthur's afab skeleton in a couple of year's time though.

www.gmc-uk.org/doctors?page=1&lastNameText=webberley

Apart from the rest of the horrors that lie ahead, why has nobody told Arthur that taking testosterone for the rest of their life will prevent them ever going to the Olympics?
Or is it assumed sport will just be a free for all soon?

DifficultPifcultLemonDifficult that's terrible. It makes my blood boil. I'm sorry you have been through this. Did you end up getting any help elsewhere?

I was struck by the random casual aside that Arthur has a seven year old sister who is "pretty", no other details given about her, except that she is pretty. Right so.

Arthur is 13. His mum is glad he is going through the same changes as his peers, i.e. male puberty. Arthur does karate at a high level and has currently started competing as a boy, which is going fine as a 5'5" 13 year old.

Poor Arthur is going to learn some uncomfortable things over the next few years about the difference in physical outcome between (1) a female taking male hormones while suppressing female puberty and (2) a male who has gone through male puberty.

It sounds like Arthur's dad understands. I felt for him.