GETTY The number of UK children seeking hormone blockers to assist gender transitioning is rising

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Young people who are convinced they are living in the wrong body are receiving hormonal injections to stop the onset of puberty and make sex change operations easier. According to a Mail on Sunday investigation more than 600 children were undergoing treatment from the NHS' Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) clinic in London, and a further 200 in Leeds. The lower age limit of 16 was scrapped in 2014 meaning any child in the early stages of puberty with gender dysphoria can now be considered for treatment - meaning some children as young as 10 are eligible. Established in 1989, GIDS describes itself as "a highly specialised clinic for young people presenting with difficulties with their gender identity".

It provides specialist assessment, consultation and care for children and young people up to the age of 18 "to help reduce the distressing feelings of a mismatch between their natal (assigned) sex and their gender identity". According to its service specification, "adolescents with continuing GD (gender dysphoria) will be able to have physical interventions via the Service provided they fulfil the eligibility and readiness criteria for these. "National and international guidelines recommend the use of hormone blockers (gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists GnRH) in adolescence to suppress puberty." Some Conservative campaigners argue gender identity issues are being forced onto the younger generation, leading to the spike in youths taking hormone blockers. Grassroots Conservatives spokeswoman Mary Douglas said: "This drastic notion that we should change our gender should be a last resort.

GETTY Young people with gender dysphoria can feel alienated if it is not addressed

"Caution needs to be the watchword for everyone engaged in this, including doctors." There are also concerns not enough research has been done into the long term effects of hormone blockers. But Professor Gary Butler, a consultant paediatric endocrinologist with GIDS, said the drugs simply delayed the process, and that once off the blockers, puberty would simply "start back up again" with no side effects. Young people wishing to undergo a sex change are at first carefully psychologically assessed before medical tests determine how far into puberty they are.

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