Thread by @BayswaterSG

A thread about unsafe prescribing and the exploitation of children for money.

A thread about a rotten apple in the midst of the LGBT advocacy sector.

A thread about GenderGP.

GenderGP feeds off the GIDS waiting list: without it, the rationale to go private is much reduced.

Advocacy groups offer parents no other way to understand a child's distress, than that they must ‘b’ock’ the emergency of a 'wrong' puberty, which lead to a lifetime's medication.

But puberty blockers are not an elixir that unlocks a child's 'true self', they are an experimentally repurposed cancer drug of now dubious legality that offers indifferent results.

It's uncomfortable to face our own shortcomings, but please: LGBT orgs & others, who've done so much for our society promoting the rights & welfare of wrongly marginalised fellow-citizens: wake up to the child exploitation in your midst.

Below are examples of blatantly unsafe prescribing by GenderGP below, with more in the coming days.

A 15yr old who, mum says, "admitted to me that he’s not sure who he is any more. He... wakes up & his brain tells him he’s a girl & this makes him angry but other mornings he wakes up & his brain tells him he’s a boy & this just makes him feel confused.”

Regardless, GenderGP prescribed cross-sex hormones the following month (2020). Mum says it's "quicker than having to wait almost two years for an appt at a GIDS clinic." Clearly, this child needed time to consider matters before embarking on irreversible changes.

A 9yr old whose mum says does’t “have any mental issues.” Even so, they began blockers with GenderGP (2018): "we have a crazy wait for the NHS and he has started puberty so we went private". This child’s life choices have been taken from them at a v young age.

A 13yr old adoptee who suffered "crippling anxiety... always felt like a failure, because his birth mother didn't want him”. They "could not wait… for the Tavi" & GenderGP prescribed blockers (2019). Began cross-sex hormones aged 14 (2020).

14yr old victim of bullying, who suffered OCD & depression & "watches lots of youtube trans stories". Mum says "he doesn't understand that those lives are not his". GenderGP started them on blockers and cross-sex hormones (2019).

An autistic 12yr old with complex mental health needs being assessed by social services, was prescribed blockers from GenderGP (2020). Child was "starting to show signs of puberty so we had no choice but to go down the private route” says mum.

12yr old autistic child who "really struggled with talking to anybody... so I spoke for her." Mum was investigated for munchausen, before going to GenderGP, who prescribed blockers and cross-sex hormones (2020).

In the session with Gender GP, says mum, "I mainly spoke again, my daughter was in the room with me but didn't talk, or even want to be on the camera - this was accepted, and understood by the counsellor.”

10yr old: "My son spoke to the counsellor 3 days after we signed up & they are happy for him to start PBs... Puberty is imminent for my son at age 10 so can't wait the 2-3 year it would take for GIDS to see him" (2020)

These children’s life chances have been curtailed because of their families’ faith that they were in the wrong body, and that puberty would have devastated them. All wanted to do their best for their kids.

As Mrs A, one of the successful complainants in the recent judicial review, said: we need to ignite a broader conversation about why so many adolescents are seeking help for gender identity problems, and how society can best help and support them.

https://twitter.com/BayswaterSG/status/1333762964504129538?s=20

These examples make us confident that GenderGP’s prescribing practices isn’t the answer. Regulators, authorities, parents, advocates, physicians: please act.
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