AIBU about transgender person taking legal action against NHS for allowing her to transition? [[title edited by MNHQ on OP's behalf]]

[HollyGoLoudly1]

A 23 year old is taking legal action against the NHS for giving her treatment to transition to male as a teenager. She has since decided to live as a female and is taking legal action against the NHS as they should have 'challenged her' more when she wanted to transition rather than giving her the treatment.

The NHS can't do right for doing wrong here. Cash strapped to the point of collapse and being sued for giving someone the treatment they asked for. I despair.

AIBU or is this absolutely ludicrous?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51676020
from MNHQ - this title and OP originally said the person concerned was suing the NHS. They are in fact just taking legal action. The OP has asked us to make this clear but you may find some of the early posts reflect the words in the original title

i'd like to comment but i'll get flamed but i totally agree with you op

Define "decided."

This is fantastic. The NHS has a duty of care and is epically failing young confused often autistic women who think they want to transition. This poor woman needed a sensitive exploration of her profound distress and unhappiness not some kneejerk trans affirmative hormone bullshit

The process to receive treatment needs to be more tightly controlled.
Therapy needs to be mandatory. No physical treatment including hormones under 18.

There’s going to be a lot more cases like this I guarantee.

And so it begins .

YABU.

Just because someone asks for a particular treatment it doesn't mean it's the right one. The NHS should have investigated her reasons for wanting this treatment and then worked on an appropriate treatment plan, not just given her what she asked for.

EG, antibiotics. How many people go to the doctor asking for them, but the doctors won't just hand them out, they need to check out your symptoms and ensure they're the correct type of treatment before prescribing.

She was 15, had a difficult home life, had been heavily influenced by online chats, and says she only had 3 appointments, each 1 hour long before they decided to start her transitioning.

I do believe that some people are happier long term if they transition.

I don’t believe that an unhappy child is capable of making that decision, or that 3 hours is enough talking time to get to the bottom of their issues or reasons.

So I support her lawsuit - the NHS has to take responsibility for the treatments it gives to vulnerable people, especially to children.

I have been very careful here not to get into the wider trans debate so hopefully won’t get banned :)

The NHS should be sued for transitioning children. It is child abuse. I hope she is successful.

Surely if she is suing anyone she should be suing her parents. They were the ones who gave consent?

It’s a complicated area but concern has been building about the NHS approach for a while

www.theguardian.com/society/2019/feb/23/child-transgender-service-governor-quits-chaos

If the nhs promoted a 'treatment' that was found to be negligent, you would expect that patients have a right to sue for harm and damage done.

How is this different?

This lawsuit + all the potential ones X TRA lobbyists = ?

www.bbc.com/news/health-47359692

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/12/12/childrens-transgender-clinic-hit-35-resignations-three-years/

It was inevitable that a case like this would arise. It also feels that concerns being raised by professionals may not have been heeded.

I hope more decide to sue too. It is atrocious and as like a pp mentioned Autism the links between ASD and gender dismorphia are firmly attached.
Many ASD females are giving hormones far to young to stop developing, when the majority are seeking a place in society and need MH care.

I think it's entirely fair enough for her to question the treatment that she received at such a young age. I am not against people transitioning if they really want to, but it should only be offered after extensive counseling to ensure that it's the best option, and I do not think that it's appropriate to offer this treatment to children under any circumstances. They are not mature enough to make such a life-changing decision.

The NHS had a duty of care to her in which they failed due to pressure from activist groups.

I feel very sorry for this person but common sense has not been present in trans teenager cases. The NHS knows young peoples brains are not fully developed and that gender dysphoria is a medical condition that is not always best treated with affirmations, surgery and uncontrolled drugs with irreversible effects. They failed in their duty of care to a vulnerable teenager.

You can listen to someone and give them acceptance without agreeing with them.

You can't legally buy an alcopop until you're 18 but you can alter your physical characteristics to the opposite sex if you so choose by receiving life-changing hormones, years before you turn 18.

There will be more cases like this. If suing the NHS is what is necessary to raise awareness of this then so be it. If it makes them review their guidance and policies then it can only be a good thing.

Tip of the iceberg methinks

Definitely the NHS’ fault here: they shouldn’t be encouraging children to change sex at all

Yabu. I hope this puts the brakes on allowing teens to have hormone treatment.

We don't even allow kids to get a tattoo under the age of 18. Surely transitioning to the opposite gender is an even bigger decision than that, and people should therefore have to wait until they're adults.

She was fifteen/sixteen, saw them on three occasions for an hour each time and wasn’t given extensive counselling beforehand. That’s not great care at all.

The NHS shouldn't be paying for people to transition in the first place.

Delighted to hear this.