Britain’s National Health Service will close the UK’s only dedicated gender identity clinic for children and young people, after a report warned it was “not safe.”
A review of the “gender identity service” at Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust by pediatrician Dr. Hilary Cass found the center was not “safe or viable,” according to numerous British media reports.
The study said mental health issues in patients were “overshadowed” in favor of gender identity issues in children referred to Tavistock’s Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS).
The clinic is accused of rushing children onto puberty-blocking drugs, and the report said that a “significant number” of children with mental health and cognitive issues needed a deeper examination before a sex-change operation was recommended.
The report stated that “…brain maturation may be temporarily or permanently disrupted by puberty blockers, which could have significant impact on the ability to make complex risk-laden decisions, as well as possible longer-term neuropsychological consequences.”
READ: FDA Warns of Brain Swelling from Puberty Blockers
The clinic has reportedly treated at least 9,000 children for gender dysphoria since it opened in 1989.
The closing comes after a British man who had his genitals removed during gender reassignment surgery announced he is suing the NHS over the operation.
Ritchie Herron, 35, claims doctors did not warn him of the drastic effect of sexual transition surgery. Herron says after the surgery, urinating is now a painful process that can take as long as 10 minutes. He is also reportedly infertile and feels like a “sexual eunuch.”
Ritchie claims he was rushed into making “the biggest mistake of his life” and was not properly screened for mental illness or counseled about the risks.
Herron posted about his experience on Twitter under a pseudonym, TullipR. https://twitter.com/TullipR
In place of the closed clinic, NHS England will reportedly establish two other services for children and young people with gender dysphoria, and another six or seven similar services could be opened in other parts of the country.
READ: ‘We Must Protect Them, Not Inject Them’: FL Shields Children from Irreversible Puberty Blockers
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