But who would stop these doctors?

Almost a decade ago, the makings of today's medical scandal were clear and visible

Photo by Bernd 📷 Dittrich on Unsplash

In this book extract, Stephanie Davies-Arai is profiled as a leader among the women in the UK who stood up against trans ideology. The story of Ms Davies-Arai and her website Transgender Trend is intertwined with the exposure and downfall of the Tavistock’s London-based Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS). In 2022, she was awarded the British Empire Medal for services to children—Bernard Lane

Fiona McAnena

As she threw herself into Transgender Trend, Stephanie Davies-Arai became more and more alarmed at the lack of evidence and at the rapid growth in trans identification among young people, especially girls. It was the BBC that reported a shocking statistic about the growth in referrals to GIDS, which were published annually. The year to March 2016 showed a 100 per cent increase. The old pattern of mostly boys had changed, too. For the first time, it was more girls than boys.

Since the medical interventions were all happening in this one national clinic, Stephanie decided she needed to get to know them—

“I knew they had connections with the transactivist group Mermaids and I thought, I will establish a relationship with them too. My role will be as a ‘critical friend’. Maybe they would listen to me as an organisation for parents of these children. I think I was quite naïve in retrospect.”

Her first chance came when she heard about a seminar in Cambridge called “Gender Non-Conforming Children: Treatment Dilemmas in Puberty Suppression”. It was presented by Dr Bernadette Wren, Head of Psychology at the GIDS clinic. Stephanie didn’t see herself as an antagonist or a protester. She felt she had legitimate concerns that people working in the clinic would want to hear, so she registered and went along.

Her report of the event on the Transgender Trend website shows that the GIDS approach was relatively cautious back then. Dr Wren reported that 18 per cent of their referred patients were autistic compared with 1 per cent of the population. She said that most children desisted, that is, they stopped thinking they were the other sex, but that they couldn’t tell which children would persist in believing they were trans and which would desist. She mentioned that desistance was a lot lower among those children referred to the gender clinic.

Dr Wren did not, in her talk, address the question that seemed obvious to Stephanie: whether this meant the children at the clinic were somehow the “right” candidates for transition, or whether being affirmed as trans, and perhaps being put on puberty blockers, might solidify their belief that they were in the wrong body?

There was much musing about what was going on, admitting that they did not know what the long-term health effects of puberty blockers might be. But still, Bernadette Wren talked in a matter-of-fact way about puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones as if blocking a child’s puberty was as normal as treating a migraine.

She reported tension between her team and some pro-trans advocacy groups, especially in their use of the “suicide narrative, scaring children and parents into demanding puberty blockers.” She said those groups were pushing for treatment-on-demand based on self-identification. Meaning that if a child says they are “trans”, they should be able to go to the clinic and get puberty blockers, and later, cross-sex hormones, just on their say-so. It was all there, in 2016.

Stephanie stood up and asked Dr Wren what evidence they had that puberty blocking was the best approach, and how they could determine which children would persist and which would simply grow out of their belief and be happy with their birth sex. The answers gave her no assurance. They just did not appear to know.

It wasn’t hostile but it was a bit uncomfortable, everyone squirming a little because the lovely supportive atmosphere of the event was suddenly spoiled. Stephanie knew that asking the question would create that discomfort but she felt it was essential that the audience got to hear the questions and the lack of answers.

Afterwards, she approached Bernadette Wren to speak to her. Another person, who said they were the parent of an adult trans son, was asking questions and Stephanie listened to Dr Wren’s answers. It was a sobering moment. “I came away from that seminar thinking, Why don’t you just stop then? If you don’t know what the outcomes are, why don’t you just stop!”

She’d heard from the supposed experts but had still seen no evidence to support either the idea that some children were transgender or that blocking their puberty would help them. She felt so strongly that it was wrong. But it looked like no one was going to stop these doctors.

This is an extract from Fiona McAnena’s new book Terf Island: How the UK Resisted Trans Ideology, $A39.95, published by Spinifex Press