What is Gender Dysphoria?

This week another story hit the news headlines. A 10 year old boy had a sex change operation after he was diagnosed as having gender dysphoria.

Gender dysphoria is a condition where a person is born as one sex but is convinced that they are really of another sex. When such a condition is picked up early a child will be given drugs to stop puberty from starting so that they can have a more effective sex change operation.

In 2009 guidelines were changed in the UK to allow under 18’s to be classified as having gender dysphoria. Prior to 2009 such a condition could only be diagnosed and therefore treated from 18 years onwards. As puberty would have started and almost completed then this makes the alteration much more difficult.

In many cases the children feel out of touch with their same sex friends and are confused, lonely and can become depressed.

The whole process is still very controversial. To change a boy into a girl is an irreversible process and if a mistake is made it would certainly ruin a life. However, the argument for such a procedure is that children born “the wrong sex” live unhappy lives anyway so a change may well be the only solution to ensure that they can live a long and fulfilling life.

The case of Libby, aged 10

“A self diagnosis, doing a lot of Googling” – Libby’s mum on how she decided to let her son change sex.

In the recent case a boy’s mum Googled her son’s emotional condition and after speaking with a doctor they determined that her son has gender dysphoria. “Libby” was born a boy but now her mum is helping her to become a girl.

There is also a great concern that Libby will now be bullied for being a girl, and not accepted by the boys or the girls at the school. It also poses the question about how she is treated in single sex classes, notably games lessons – will she change with the boys, the girls or by herself?

We assume that she will have to change by herself as she does still have a boys body and although puberty may be halted until she starts receiving hormonal therapy at 16 she does still have a penis, something that is not going to be easy to hide in the changing rooms in school PE classes. At the moment she is not taking any medication, so that only change made so far is that she is dressing as a girl.

From the age of 16 a person can start hormone therapy, so in the case of Libby she will probably start taking female hormones then. From the age of 18 gender reassignment surgery can be completed. This does at least give her 8 years to be really sure that this is the correct course of action.