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

@HollyGoLoudly1 I completely understand your own confusion - the article is really, really unclear on what was happening.

Agree that asking MNHQ to alter the thread title might help? Or to edit your post. But the fault is media presentation (I can't help wondering if all the journalists really understand the difference themselves, given the quality of the reporting).

The reliable source on the case, from those bringing it, is here. Keira Bell says,

"I have become a claimant in this case because I do not believe that children and young people can consent to the use of powerful and experimental hormone drugs like I did. I believe that the current affirmative system put in place by the Tavistock is inadequate as it does not allow for exploration of these gender dysphoric feelings nor does it seek to find the underlying causes of this condition. Hormone changing drugs and surgery does not work for everyone and it certainly should not be offered to someone under the age of 18 when they are emotionally and mentally vulnerable . The treatment urgently needs to change so that it does not put young people, like me, on a torturous and unnecessary path that is permanent and life changing."

If people are being misdiagnosed, surely it is in everyone's best interest to ensure the diagnostic protocol is as robust as it can be so that people do not receive unnecessary treatment. People expect this in every other medical speciality.

my child is attending months of sessions with clinical psychologists before any decisions are made on any form of hormone/physical treatments and we will be able to make an informed decision with all the facts

But what facts. The only facts you have are your child’s DNA. Every doctor/psychologist will have an opinion but please look at the reasons behind their opinions. Where are they getting their information from to form their opinion? The answer to this question is very concerning. The people who are advising them have questionable motives.

Nobody should be self-diagnosing or self-prescribing if they are patients. That's the point of a Doctor being highly trained and informed and experienced.

@DifficultPifcultLemonDifficult you're not failing. You're doing brilliantly in seeking to protect your child from within a broken and hostile system. As the parent of two kids with SEN, who has one Tribunal under her belt and counting from an allied and equally broken system, I send love and solidarity.

If people are being misdiagnosed, surely it is in everyone's best interest to ensure the diagnostic protocol is as robust as it can be so that people do not receive unnecessary treatment. People expect this in every other medical speciality.

Absolutely this.

JBEM I am sorry that your child is struggling at the moment, but their experience of months of assessment is absolutely what should be happening for all children who present with gender dysphoria. However Keira's case shows that this wasn't even close - three one hour sessions before she was medicated!

I’ll never get the image of Keira and the other detransitioners at the Make More Noise event out of my mind. So tiny, and fragile, and so damaged. And the man in the audience who knew nothing about any of it, he’d just given his wife a lift and come inside to keep warm, and he was practically in tears asking “how could they do this to you.”
Nobody who saw that could think those young women deserve to be left adrift to deal with the fallout. Nobody could believe they had made informed decisions or been supported properly. I urge you to watch the film of their panel discussion if you haven’t seen it.

Couldn’t agree more Doobigetta.

So impressed by Keira, who just a few months ago wanted to speak before the event cameras were switched on, and is now giving interviews to both print and TV press.
Many of the detransitioners have said that by meeting each other they have ‘finally found their tribe’. It’s amazing what young women can do when they have the support of each other

Hearhooves if the medical professionals you saw initially, explained that your arthritis could be transient would that have changed any of your decisions regarding your treatment ?

Nobody who saw that could think those young women deserve to be left adrift to deal with the fallout. Nobody could believe they had made informed decisions or been supported properly. I urge you to watch the film of their panel discussion if you haven’t seen it.

This ^^

links here:

Do you have a link to Make More Noise? I found a report but no video.

Cross posted while I looked for it!

Anyone working with children & Vulnerable Adults should be open & welcoming of scrutiny, its how practice is ensured to be the very best it can be.

Anyone who is trying to shut down discussions about Safeguarding represents risk, either direct or indirect.

This 100%
One of the things that first got my attention on this debate was the number of (generally) biological adult men who were very vocal at shutting down debate. Society has to question the motives of adults who have such a strong obsession at ensuring issues of safeguarding aren't discussed and good practice is abandoned.

It is NOT a choice, a whim, a mental health issue

How is a belief that you are/should be the opposite sex not a mental health issue?

if the medical professionals you saw initially, explained that your arthritis could be transient would that have changed any of your decisions regarding your treatment ?

No I don't think so. The amount of pain and disability that I had I just wanted some sort of treatment to get it under control. If they'd have said there was a chance that it could get better on its own I still would have chosen treatment unless it was going to resolve very quickly.

Of course it's a mental health issue. That's not to say that, for some, the solution is not transitioning. But it should not be the first avenue to be explored.

Completely agree with you @Closetbeanmuncher!

No I don't think so. The amount of pain and disability that I had I just wanted some sort of treatment to get it under control

Even if the side effects of the treatment being offered would be life long and the illness years long ?

I hope she wins.

A persons decision making part of the brain is not fully developed until around 22. They should be encouraged to live as the opposite sex before then but not be encouraged to transition until at least 24 to make sure it's the right decision.

Would you also have been happy to take whatever treatment the Doctor offered you if they mentioned that there were no random controlled trials on the treatment, but anecdotally they had heard ( from a man in the supermarket ) that it had worked a treat for 'others' ? And that it will leave you infertile, possibly with life long continence issues and no guarantee that it would be successful in treating your illness ?

we will be able to make an informed decision with all the facts

I’m sorry to have to point this out, but you won’t. You won’t be given all the facts. The company who produce Lupron have done extensive work to ensure that all the facts are not known. I thought I made an informed decision - at no point did any person or leaflet tell me I might suffer as I have as a result of these drugs.

Please read the testimonies of those who have suffered as I have before you make any decisions. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone, not least because it’s impossible to get any help from the medical community. They don’t know what the problem is and most don’t even acknowledge there is a problem.

@Closetbeanmuncher agreed. Problem solved.

@BovaryX it isn't for me to even try to explain Keira's thought process or journey through GiDS - if she feels that the system failed her then of course she needs to do whatever she needs to do.

I am speaking from my experience, watching my child going through the whole process.

@TammySwansonTwo

Given that no two people are the same I am fully aware that a fact for one person may not be a fact for someone else.

I will do everything within my power to make sure my child is aware and prepared for the good, bad and the ugly whatever path he choses to take.

I hope they win
And if it’s true they did this after a Meagre 3 consultations ....
and it will hopefully slow this down until people are adults