Parents of transgender teenager lose bid to stop mastectomy

[IwantToRetire]

The parents of a non-binary 17-year-old have failed in their bid to prevent the teenager from having breast removal surgery after they were accused of believing that LGBTQ+ people were “evil and satanic”.

The parents had asked the High Court in London for an injunction banning their child from having a mastectomy.

They also sought to have the teenager made subject of a psychiatric report, claiming their child’s sexual preferences were symptoms of a mental illness.

But a High Court judge has refused to grant the injunction saying that while their child was only 17, they would turn 18 within days of the hearing and would therefore be able to give consent to gender-affirming treatment as an adult.

The Hon Mr Justice Macdonald ruled it would be wholly disproportionate to permit an expert to examine the teenager.

Part of a longer article originally in the Telegraph but reprinted by Yahoo (sports?) https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/parents-transgender-teenager-lose-bid-164349686.html

I wonder if the parents hadn't been so blatantly anti L&G if the Judge would have made a different decision. Or that that they nearly being 18 was the crucial point.

I'm not sure I like the judge's way of thinking, which would apply to any case involving minors about to turn 18. Either postpone the case and have child/adult reapply at 18, or rule according to the law as it applies on the date of the case.

IANAL.

The parents sound very homophobic which may have contributed to the "trans" status of their daughter through internalised homophobia.

The case seems pretty irrelevant given she will be 18 soon and an adult.

It is unclear when the injunction was first sought. If it was a last minute thing, to get in before child reached 18, then possibly the judge has a point. If it was initiated a long time ago, well then, I'm not so sure....

I just wonder how we've got to the point that some of our girls / young women hate their bodies so much that they would rather remove their healthy breast tissue and claim to be a man than be a woman?

The whole thing is so sad.

Women can be however they want to be and the fact that some women think that this is the answer to not wanting to present as feminine is truly horrific.

Hmm but gender dysphoria is a psychological condition? So, we are letting young people with a psychological disorder decide to irreversibly surgically alter their perfectly healthy bodies.

I should think in this case quite a lot of it is due to the parents constant and overt homophobia, and the young child realising her sexuality and realising that her parents would never accept it. Plus internalising the messages about rigid gender roles that are often associated with that kind of homophobia.

I need to read the judgement but on the face of it this sounds as though this is designed for the Court of Appeal.

Perfectly rational for a young woman to want to remove her healthy breasts, of course.

Rational or not, once they're 18 they can have the final say on what treatments they undergo. The parents case was futile given the age, and yes was probably not helped by their casting of all LGB as "satanic".

If an 18 year old wishes to have a hand cut off, would a surgeon do it?
Why are breasts treated differently?

Or maybe they tried to stop her making a catastrophic and irreversible mistake x

Meanwhile the rest of us can still mourn that we're in a world where grim adults persuade the young that their bodies are wrong and need fixing with drugs and surgery.
Not to mention knowing that the majority of these young people are giving away their fertility and future good health because society's too scared to stand up to the adults pushing this at the young.

I like Norway' medical recommendations to stave off any gender-affirming medical treatments until age 25. this young woman could benefit from maturity.

And the nhs are funding this? When they are making people wait for cancer treatment? Fucking sacred group indeed.

Poor kid. Awful parents, and let down by the health service and justice system, it seems.

The teenager won't actually get the mastectomy at 18, they'll just be placed on a very long waiting list.

Yes, but I was only commenting on the legal decision.

World's gone mad!

It puzzles me that there are so many sane and wise people on this forum yet out in the "real world" there seems to be so much madness.

A difficult one. I can see the judgement reasoning - parents obviously have some very odd views, young person has grown up in a difficult situation and yes, is so nearly 18 that the court findings would be irrelevant as they can consent themselves as soon as they do.

But yes. Tragedy that this poor girl feels her only option is to destroy her healthy body parts, and that no one has offered any other meaningful support. I sincerely hope she does not come to suffer the awful regret later that detransitioners describe with some time and distance from the triggers that drove them into the hands of those who are ideological zealots and cut first and ... well. Largely don't think at all.

Rational or not, once they're 18 they can have the final say on what treatments they undergo.

At who’s expense?

Fine if she wants to save for private treatment - however she should be assessed first to see how this is/will affect her later in life.

Excellent question. Wasn’t there a woman who identified as blind and had a doctor make it so? Can’t remember the details.

Good. Right result.

@StockpotSoup why?

And if she's assessed as having capacity, she should have to sign something to agree she can't ever sue anyone for carrying out her request for surgery. There's been a few cases has there not of 'I'll sue if you don't do it, you're causing me harm' then 5 or so years later, 'I'm suing because you did the surgery'!