By GB News (World News) | Created at 2025-01-31 00:04:18 | Updated at 2025-01-31 03:25:15
3 hours ago
Children must be banned from receiving gender-altering hormones, a legal challenge to the Government has stated.
The case is led by Keira Bell, who took the NHS to court in 2020 claiming it had given her “experimental” gender treatment.
Bell, who began medical transition as a teenager, and is now outspoken about the harm she suffered from her gender treatment, said she wants to stop other vulnerable young people making what she calls a, “life altering mistake”.
The legal action - outlined in a letter to Health Secretary Wes Streeting - follows a recent ban on puberty blockers - which are prescribed to delay sexual maturity - following safety concerns.
Wes Streeting was sent the letter
GETTY
While these drugs have now been banned for use in children, cross-sex hormone treatment - designed to cause the body to adopt the characteristics of a chosen sex - remains in practice.
This is despite a large-scale Government backed review finding the evidence for both interventions “extremely weak”.
Lawyers in the case say an equivalent ban should also have been placed on cross sex hormones.
The litigants argue NHS guidelines on cross sex hormone gender treatment has left the door wide open for their increased prescription through newly established child gender clinics.
Solicitors at SinclairsLaw argue cross sex hormones pose an irreversible risk to children’s health.
Furious parents, detransitioners, and legal advocates have thrown their weight behind the case and are demanding an immediate ban on the powerful drugs which are usually taken by children between the ages of 16 and 17.
Bell, who previously sued the NHS over her treatment at the NHS UK gender service - the Tavistock Gender Identity Development Service - said: “I was prescribed cross-sex hormones at 17 while struggling with trauma and confusion over my identity. These drugs warp your being.
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General view of The Tavistock Centre, Belsize Lane, London
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"They cause irreversible changes, especially for women. Once the harm is done, you’re trapped in a nightmare with no way out.”
Despite attempts to detransition, Bell has been left with permanent physical changes, including a deepened voice and reproductive concerns.
“I face possible infertility and a permanently changed voice. This is a heinous practice that imprisons vulnerable young people in a world of suffering,” she said.
Bayswater Support - a group of parents sceptical of their children's transgender identity, also part of the legal case, last night accused the Government of a “scandalous oversight” in failing to protect youngsters from what it describes as potentially devastating medical interventions.
A spokesman said: “Bayswater Support is bringing this case to protect children from accessing cross-sex hormones and to ensure they receive the same protection from harm that is already in place with the permanent ban on puberty blockers.”
“There is no good evidence these drugs improve mental health, but it is certain they degrade physical health,” the spokesman added.
“We do not believe children can consent to the irreversible changes caused by these hormones.”
The four-year Government-backed independent Cass Review - a large scale independent investigation into gender identity services for children, published last April - said the evidence base for using both puberty blockers and cross sex hormones is “extremely weak".
Keira Bell took the NHS to court in 2020 claiming it had given her “experimental” gender treatment
GB NEWS
One father, known as EF for legal reasons, shared his experience.
His 15-year-old daughter, who is autistic and had battled anorexia, was able to obtain cross-sex hormones without his knowledge.
“These drugs are life-altering and incredibly dangerous,” he said.
“My daughter is now a medical patient for life. I couldn’t stop it, and I wouldn’t wish this nightmare on any other family.”
Gender clinics that operate outside UK regulatory frameworks, have been widely condemned for reckless prescribing practices.
Paul Conrathe, a senior consultant solicitor at Sinclairslaw, called the Government’s failure to ban cross-sex hormones “remarkable.”
He said: “The Secretary of State banned puberty blockers but failed to ban even more harmful cross-sex hormones that cause irreversible lifelong changes.
"This harmful trade continues, emboldened by the Government’s inaction.”
The Cass Review, published in April 2024, exposed serious gaps in medical research on gender-related treatments for children.
It found that the long-term effects of both puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones were poorly understood and potentially dangerous.
Despite her report, NHS England has continued to allow 16- and 17-year-olds access to cross sex hormones.
