Tavistock psychologist is worried about rush to label kids as trans

[EmpressOfTheSpartacusOceans]

Dr Bernadette Wren told the Sunday Times she thinks it's all happening too fast. This is an accessible link.

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/schools-rushing-on-whisper-to-label-pupils-as-transgender-0d8zm53qs?shareToken=315f17227c1c052cb0287315f3d589a4

What an excellent article. The lack of data on follow up is particularly concerning.

Thanks for sharing. Blimey. She works there and she's worried about it. I don't know how to interpret that. I suppose at least there is some thinking going on about whether this is the right direction. This clinic leaves me very uneasy. And I'm continually astonished that the Tavistock trust, with its huge reputation is involved in giving hormones to children and seemingly not thinking about gender identity from a social and psychological perspective.

She works there and she's worried about it.

She must know what kind of vicious backlash is going to descend on her after that article, so I think that shows just how worried she really is.

Three year olds being referred to a gender clinic. I could cry for those poor kids.

I wish they had mentioned the memorandum of understanding (unless I missed it?).

Because schools would have to fly in the face of that in order to not affirm a child's toy preference as a gender identity issue.

She's very brave.

She's very brave.

Agreed.

However, when the inevitable backlash piles on her, it might make her dig her heels in. Because she will at least see it as a real life demonstration of her own fears.

“Several transgender support groups declined to comment” stood out to me! What does that tell us?

I know it is said on many trans threads, but how is it conceivable that women are routinely refused sterilisation in their twenties because they are not considered able to make such a decision and yet children are making a far more dramatic decision on the nod and with the TRA cheering behind them? Thank god people like this doctor and Winston are speaking up.

Agreed it's a good article and she is brave to speak up about it. I suppose she is voicing professional concerns and is right to do so.

I note that several transgender support groups refused to comment.

Sorry cross post with Esme

My three year old self identifies as a cat some days. Those poor kids.

There was an earlier article a couple of months ago in the Guardian, in which she tried to say the same sorts of things (and also implied that the TRA pressure groups should sit the fuck down) but the Guardian journo was so oblivious - reported everything she said but without understanding it and with the usual Guardian cheerleading pro-trans spin.

Wren must have tried again with the Times.

“Several transgender support groups declined to comment” stood out to me! What does that tell us?

It's a tactic. The media is supposed to show balance, so quite often, especially on radio TV, if one side refuses to appear they won't make the segment.

Magestic, children referred to the Tavi have complex mental health needs. The clinic practice is very ethical and over 80% of young people are discharged feeling comfortable with their natal sex.
Whilst gender is a social construct, the dysphoria experienced by some children is very disabling and disruptive. Physical intervention is not offered ‘on a whim’ but when viewed as the most effective method to alleviate symptoms.
In speaking out, Wren is doing her job. When asked, she is ethically required to give a professional view and not to be swayed by lobbyists or the agendas of others

Where's that 80% figure from MsBeaujangles? In the article it says: Of children referred to the London clinic, 10% change their minds and opt out of the treatment programme

Thanks @MsBeaujangles I'm glad to hear it. But how does that stack with the statistic quoted in recent guardian article that 42% of children in the service are referred to endocrinologist i.e. for hormones.

I have said it a million times on here, but why the fuck is this the treatment for gender dysphoria.

You don't say to an anorexic person, 'yes you are a fat, ugly cow' and give them liposuction. So why the fuck are we currently mutilating healthy bodies and giving out hormones willy nilly with zero knowledge of the long term consequences, to children who don't even have the capacity to make those sorts of decisions about their bodies in the first place.

Great article. I hope that there is follow-up after the actual conference.

Has there been any mention on social media?

Good article and some good comments.

The comments are very interesting

Magestic. That figure refers to the older patients only.
I do expect the figure of 80% will drop when the next data release come out though.
I think the worrying thing is the move to de-medicalise gender dysphoria and remove the medical aspect of gaining a GRC. This is really concerning with regard to allowing many people to feel happy in their own skin without invasive treatment.
I think gender non conformity should not be medicalised and people should not be pathologists for not wanting to identify with stereotypes. But this is a very different thing to dysphoria and accessing female only (or male only) spaces and services!

Lily Maynard had it on her twitter page at midnight. It is her area of campaigning, having had a daughter who wanted to change gender/sex and worked through it, against the pressure to do otherwise.

twitter.com/LilyLilyMaynard/status/954884330224062464