Ireland is to set up a new system of dealing with “gender dysphoria” in children, a report on Saturday has claimed.
The Health Service Executive (HSE), Ireland’s socialised healthcare service, are to set up a new system to deal with children with so-called “gender dysphoria”.
It comes after British authorities announced that they are shutting down the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) at the Tavistock & Portman National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust over child safety fears, with a report finding that the often extremely pro-transgenderism stance of the clinic frequently endangered the health of its patients.
With neighbouring Ireland having been reliant on an outsourced clinic run by GIDS, authorities in the country are now also looking to establish a new system for dealing with children who believe they were born in the wrong body, with the HSE’s Chief Clinical Officer Dr Colm Henry announcing that the service was now looking to establish a new treatment system.
“The epidemiology of gender dysphoria is changing and will continue to do so,” the Irish Times reports him as saying. “We are aware of 15 other countries including the UK who are looking at their models of care and we are doing so too.”
Dr Henry emphasised that the HSE now aims to have an “entirely domestic service”, and that the new system would operate a “multidisciplinary model of care” for its patients.
The senior medical official refused to comment on the efficacy of giving so-called “puberty blockers” and hormone treatments to children suffering from “gender dysphoria”, saying that not enough had been established by the HSE into the effectiveness of these treatments as of yet, and that a conclusion on this matter would be forthcoming.
This stands in stark contrast with the alleged position of the GIDS clinic at Tavistock, which has been accused of being overly keen to push children that are referred to it onto puberty blockers, despite the potential side effects.
Journalist Hannah Barnes detailed this alleged phenomenon in her recently published book Time to Think: The Inside Story of the Collapse of the Tavistock’s Gender Service for Children, in which she describes the experience of a number of children who were put through the GIDS system.
One of these children, referred to as “Jacob” by Barnes, is said to have been put on puberty blockers by the service, despite the fact that — the now adult patient alleges — they failed to properly inform them about the possible side effects.
These puberty blockers are said to have not worked for Jacob, who experienced a slowed but continuing form of female puberty, all the while suffering multiple broken bones due to the effect of the puberty blockers, which is known to weaken them.
Medics at Tavistock reportedly went on to prescribe beta blockers to Jacob in the hope that slowing down the flow of blood in their body would allow the puberty blockers to be more effective.
After being prescribed the drug, Jacob collapsed in a school bathroom at age 14. The book says that it took 40 minutes before they were found.
The child survived the ordeal and eventually stopped taking the drug. They still reportedly identify as being transgender, though have opted not to partake in any medical intervention, such as puberty blockers or male hormones.
Despite the high-profile announcement that GIDS would be shut down last year, The Times reported earlier this month that it is in fact continuing to operate, and still referring children for trans drugs.