woman loses residency of son she was raising as daughter

[BombadierFritz]

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3859618/You-caused-son-great-harm-insisting-raising-girl-Boy-seven-sent-live-father-mother-raised-daughter.html

hmmm. ok so its daily mail reporting but I am conflicted
perhaps good if child was being pushed into something he wasnt
but wtf with the boringly stereotypical insistance on the type of toys played with

That is really scary, tubas.

The militants in Mermaids used to laugh about being named a "cult". They also complained that the Tavistock clinic did not signpost service users to Mermaids. It was very obvious why. I recall Green inviting psychologists from the Tavistock to a Mermaids meeting . At the meeting some parents of children who were already users of the Tavistock clinics more or less verbally abused the professionals for not progressing their child's treatment as fast as they wanted them to. New parents to the situation who were there and seeing this this would have taken away the idea that they were going to have to fight for treatment and support and possibly take matters into their own hands; as M did with J in the court case we are now discussing.

The parents who started Mermaids back in the 1970s as a peer support group must be appalled about the way the organisation has changed if they are aware of it. I know that the founder was very uncomfortable about the hostility of Green and several others towards the Tavistock professionals. She was worried about alienating the only clinic which was able to counsel young trans people. I am aware that at least one doctor who was treating teens a few years ago no longer does. So there is hope that some professionals are also rethinking their stance on helping those who present as trans at a young age to transition either socially or medically. This court case may further that reticence.

If this is all correct it is a Kids company shaped scandal waiting to happen.
While I sure good people work at mermaids, if the aim is to suppress questioning and debate this is worrying.
Self styled experts (those who are not fully accredited medics and psychologists) are absolutely the worst examples of providers of misleading and unscientific information.
Helen Lewis is a journalist and will hopefully be capable of looking into this in a respectful and objective manner.

God Tubas, that's shocking

I do find the accusations online about Green, posted by Prawn also very interesting and as Prawn said, if there was no truth to them they would have been pulled by now - it looks like Mermaids takes no prisoners legally

This is all so sad. There are children and parents who are struggling with life. Some of them may genuinely feel it's because they have the wrong body, given the person they feel themselves to be. For others, they may discover that it's not their body that's wrong, or their gender, but that they need help to be comfortable with who they are, and to discover who that is.

Either way, they shouldn't be used as political pawns for a group who is pursuing a goal and using them as collateral.

Tubas and Enid, that's really shocking. I can't believe that someone would rush a child into such major elective surgery at such a young age and against medical advice! I find it incredibly concerning that someone can be so firmly pitted against medical experts and yet hold themselves up as experts for others.

Kennington it is certainly true. When reading about this court case in the last few days I started to wish I had gone to Social Services myself about the concerns shared by those in Mermaids at the time and who were ultimately thrown out. I have spoken to one if them recently and they said they are relieved to be no longer part of the organisation as there is, or should be, trouble ahead for them.

Holy shit, tubas. I'm glad you are out of it. I mean, I knew they were incredibly dodgy but I did not know quite how dodgy.

Enid, I just read the article you linked to. Susie Green's "‘as a toddler, Jackie always headed for the dolls in toy shops" justification means that Mermaids protestations of the judge in the current case wears very thin.

tubas thank you for sharing your experiences, I hope you and your DC are getting on alright. In the light of this recent case would you consider raising all of this as a concern as to Mwrmaids activities/agenda under Green? Because it seems shocking that they are so often cited as a go-to organisation for parents of children with possibly gender/body dysphoria, and go into schools giving talks, and that the NHS link to.

Out of interest (please don't feel you have to answer this!), did you/do you get the impression that Green's agenda is homophobic? Because I'm getting some real vibes about that.

Puremince, I'm travelling and on my phone. The reference I use comes from an article in the New York Times, I think. The figures were produced by a trans spokesperson. I'll be able to provide the link this evening, or early tomorrow. The percentage refers to SRS. I don't think there was any separate figure given for removal of testicles. I understand that transwomen who are sexually attracted to women, and may identify as lesbians, typically retain a complete set of functional male genitals. Why they might do so is a complete mystery.

Thanks, prawn, I've realised I know very little about this. It seemed perfectly reasonable to me that the transwoman I know had the minimal surgery needed to get rid of the testosterone. I assume that without testicles, the penis can't function sexually? I know that she said that nothing can really go wrong with removal of the testes, but that removal of the penis can have unwanted results. She didn't spell it out, but I thought she was worried about incontinence?

RiverTam, my child is no longer a teen. No longer attending any Gender Clinics. But very happily transitioned both socially, medically and surgically. No regrets about any of it and I do have happy memories of our early days with Mermaids and meeting lots of lovely families, many of whom I am still in contact with. But I am strong. I know that some of the parent members of the committee who left are still upset about what happened. One of them has echoed my own thoughts in considering taking what happened to the Charity Commission. It would be our word against that of the Mermaids Committee though. Some of them are unpleasant enough that I don't really feel I could deal with it alone.

I didn't answer your last question RiverTam, about possible homophobia. I never got any vibe of that whilst I was a Mermaids member. But I left over two years ago. It may be diffeeent now.

Thanks for replying, tubas. I'm glad your DC is happy with where they are now.

I think it could be worth taking it further, I know a few people are beginning to see a Kids Company scenario happening with Mermaids.

tubasinthemoonlight that makes for tough reading. It seems that when people join Mermaids this is what they hear:

• Get social and medical transition as soon as possible
• Don't listen to social services
• Don't listen to your GP
• Don't listen to your school
• Don't listen to Tavistock Gender clinic
• Don't question what your child says
• Any deviation from the above may lead to your child committing suicide.

This is utterly shocking.

If Mermaids are setting themselves up as experts (which they are not) and simultaneously positioning themselves as fighting against social workers, the NHS and the bloody Tavistock who are actually qualified then that is incredibly irresponsible.

MrsJamin, exactly right. Exactly what was happening when I was a member.

Just seen mermaids have been named 'community group of the year' in the Pink News awards

Blimey.

I know!

Interesting article about Mermaids....
www.feministcurrent.com/2016/10/26/lobby-groups-like-mermaids-dictate-policy-discourse-around-gender-identity-kids-lose/

Very interesting article. Thanks, ItsAll.