Father launches a last-ditch legal bid to stop his ‘vulnerable’ autistic son, 21, from having a sex change next week
- A father is trying to stop his ‘vulnerable’ autistic son having gender reassignment
- The man says child and adult NHS services failed to address underlying issues
- Crowdfunder aims to compel the NHS to safeguard adults with gender dysphoria
A father has launched a last-minute legal action to stop his ‘vulnerable’ autistic son undergoing a sex-change operation next week.
The man, who does not want to be named, believes both the child and adult NHS gender services have failed to properly explore his 21-year-old son’s ‘fragile’ mental health and how it impacts his decision-making.
His son is due to undergo ‘vaginoplasty’ surgery on Saturday, which involves removing male genitalia and creating female parts.
Aged 13, he began attending the scandal-hit Tavistock child gender clinic in London and was prescribed puberty-blocking drugs against his parents’ wishes at 16.
Two years later he was transferred to an adult NHS gender clinic in north-west England before being referred for the vaginoplasty procedure when he was 19.
‘We were just devastated when we heard he was getting surgery,’ his father said.
Aged 13, the young man began attending the scandal-hit Tavistock child gender clinic in London and was prescribed puberty-blocking drugs against his parents’ wishes at 16
‘He’s been through the shambles that is the Tavistock and then on to the adult services, which I think is far less stringent.
‘They were continually affirming him. I don’t think the adult services have taken into account his autism and fragile mental health. He had a lot of self-harm and at least one suicide attempt that we know of. We’re convinced that the puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones actually made his mental health worse.
READ MORE: BOSS OF TRANS CHARITY MERMAIDS REFERRED CHILDREN TO TAVISTOCK WHEN GPS REFUSED TO DO SO
‘My hope is it [surgery] is stopped until he’s at least 25.
‘At 25 it’s recognised that’s when the brain matures. With someone with autism that’s definitely the case – they have developmental delays.
‘He may chronologically be an age but, maturity wise that’s not the case. At the moment he’s 21, but he’s probably acting like he’s 16 or 17.’
His solicitor Paul Conrathe, who is seeking a judicial review, said: ‘It is deeply concerning that there is such limited protection for young adults – and especially those on the autistic spectrum. Vulnerable young people are steered down a pathway of infertility and lifelong irreversible change.
‘Clinicians who dare challenge the journey risk professional discipline for conversion therapy.
‘The system is profoundly and dangerously broken. This judicial review will shine a light on a deeply concerning medical practice that has evaded scrutiny.’
Ritchie Herron, a civil servant from Newcastle who deeply regrets undergoing an NHS sex-change operation to remove his male genitalia, has also joined the legal action.
The 36-year-old told The Mail on Sunday last year how the operation in 2018 completely destroyed his sex drive, as well as leaving him infertile, incontinent and with ongoing pain.
He claims that the adult NHS gender clinic whose care he was under failed to take into account his spiralling mental health problems or properly counsel him about the risks of the surgery.
Mr Herron said he hoped the legal action will ensure gender clinics put more protections and safeguards in place for vulnerable people like him.
He said: ‘We’re not looking to take away a service from anyone.
‘That’s not what the review is about. The review is about safeguards for vulnerable people – like I was and like the other claimant’s son is.
‘What we share is the desire for practitioners to do no harm.
‘In cases like my own, I experienced not just regret after the surgery, but I had so much trepidation [before it]. I refused the surgery several times.
‘All the professionals were all saying I am an ideal candidate, they’re all saying that I am a transsexual.
‘I didn’t believe surgery was the solution until they implanted that idea. But when you’re obsessive, autistic, depressed and anxious surely you’re not an ideal candidate for surgery.
‘You cannot just operate on mentally ill people. It’s not ethical.’
The father is also support a crowdfunder to force the NHS to provide appropriate safeguards to adults suffering from gender dysphoria.
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