Clinicians are calling for an urgent national inquiry into the safety and ethics of giving unproven hormone drug treatment to ever younger children who are confused about sex and gender.
A detailed submission, arguing that risks including infertility and lifelong regret outweigh the benefits to trans children and teenagers, was sent yesterday to Health Minister Greg Hunt and the Royal Australasian College of Physicians.
The first national figures, obtained under freedom of information legislation from major hospitals in NSW, Victoria, Western Australia and Queensland, show 2415 children were referred for gender treatment between 2014 and last year, with a 41 per cent increase in Victoria. Girls as young as nine are believed to be put on “puberty blocker” drugs, and boys from about 11. Read more