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’m not saying anyone else will react as I have. I’m saying there are thousands of people who have suffered longterm undiagnosed and untreated health issues, whose reactions to the medications are ignored and not reported by HCPs, and therefore the information given to patients is insufficient to make an informed choice. The information is out there and I would strongly recommend reading it before making any decisions.

@OldCrone it is a disorder not a mental health issue

Why is it, that young people are being fast tracked to medial intervention and surgery but late transitioners (including those with AGP) retain their male genitalia (over 80%)?

@ChickLitLover I respect your opinion but I respect the evidence more.

it is a disorder not a mental health issue

What type of disorder?

Because, fast tracking them leads to a childlike Prepubescent, sterile person, with little or no comprehension of boundaries.

I respect your opinion but I respect the evidence more.

But what evidence?

giving someone the treatment they asked for. I despair.

That's not really the point though. She was a mentally ill child who needed counselling and support to deal with her dysphoria, not hormones and surgery. Where is the safeguarding? Who in their right mind thinks it's a good idea to let children make irreversible decisions about their bodies that will impact them for the rest of their lives?

I think people get stuck on the mental health label. My aunt has had an amputation and gets shocking phantom limb pain. She also feels the missing limb is very cold and feels better with a blanket on it (the gap). She’s clearly not mentally ill in the normal sense but her brain is failing to read her body properly. I think some gender Dysphoria is like this. I think there is also evidence of some gender Dysphoria being prompted by trauma and being more of a true mental health condition.

Either way what it isn’t is a soul trapped in the wrong body.

They were probably terrified of being sued if they didn’t follow the wishes of the person and didn’t want to be seen not taking their worries seriously 🙄

I am not a transitioner, but I feel for Keira and others like her. I had surgery at 17 for a life-threatening illness; I wasn't warned that a side effect of the operation in 50% of women patients was infertility (continence is also a problem for many). 15 years later I was devastated to discover this. I had a child eventually but it was a long, hard path. I really believe all options should be explored before medical and surgical treatment for children. They may still wish to transition after this and that would be their prerogative.

I asked the GP for slimming tablets when I was younger. She pointed out that I was underweight and we discussed the fact that my issues were in my head.

To my mind, this is much the same. The NHS should not have been transitioning teenagers in the first place. I'm not even sure they should be transitioning adults.

They were probably terrified of being sued if they didn’t follow the wishes of the person

You might be right but that is not the way that medical professionals are legally obliged to respond to patients.
In no other area of medicine do they make a diagnosis on the basis that the patient really, really wants one.

Being very careful here...

If a person feels that their arms doesn't belong to them, or their eyes, or their ears, that they don't feel like part of their body - and wish to have them amputated, or removed, they'd be considered to have a significant mental health issue and psychiatric treatment be sought.

Even at the end of this treatment, if the person insisted that their arms/eyes/ears were not wanted - would an NHS doctor remove them?

If not, then why are we removing vaginas, labia, breasts, penises and scrotum - purely because someone has expressed that they don't feel they belong on their body?

it is a disorder not a mental health issue

If it's a mental disorder it's a mental health issue, so are you suggesting it's a physical disorder?

If it’s a physical disorder there must be a way of diagnosing it via observable, objective tests?

Where were the adults?
Someone said gender and safeguarding flew out the window.
In what other circumstances would a 16 year old be allowed to make such choices?! You can’t even learn to drive at that age.

Should say - someone said “gender” and safeguarding flew out the window

@OldCrone @DuLANGMondeFOREVER @ChickLitLover

I am thrilled you want to learn about this - education is key.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/gender-dysphoria/

The NHS should not have been transitioning teenagers in the first place. I'm not even sure they should be transitioning adults
I don't think there is any such thing as transitioning. Transitioning in to what - people cannot change sex.
The NHS should not be mutilating teenagers. And I'm pretty sure it shouldn't be mutilating adults either.

You can’t even legally get a tattoo til 18. Not even a tiny one in a spot no one is likely to see.
This is because tattooers, and the councils who license tattoo studios, realise that people under the age of 18 are likely to change their mind.

I am thrilled you want to learn about this - education is key.

I’ve viewed that link a 100 times already, remember I have a kid who wants to transition as well.

Nowhere on there does it describe gender dysphoria, gender identity, gender incongruence, nor the state of being transgender as a ‘disorder’.

They stopped calling it that in 2013.
You aren’t nearly as informed as you think you are.

I agree that education is key.

Please read this: www.nwhn.org/lupron-what-does-it-do-to-womens-health/

Even at the end of this treatment, if the person insisted that their arms/eyes/ears were not wanted - would an NHS doctor remove them?

Not in the UK no.
In 2000 a Scottish surgeon amputated limbs from two patients & then the practice was banned:
www.theguardian.com/society/2000/feb/01/futureofthenhs.health
there was a sexual aspect:
www.heraldscotland.com/news/12215344.amputee-surgeon-knew-of-sex-link/

There are overlaps/commonalities with Body integrity identity disorder(BIID) & gender dysphoria.

In some parts of the world there are some who will consider it ethical:
www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/body-integrity-identity-disorder-the-condition-where-sufferers-want-to-be-disabled-a6680306.html

There is a poster on the detrans subreddit whose teeth are falling out due to puberty-blocker induced bone loss in the jaw. Heartbreaking.