Mother fights for NHS treatment of trans daughter

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The mother of a 14-year-old trans girl is fighting to get her hormone treatment on the NHS.

Carole Smith, 41, said that her child needed hormone treatment to prevent her from entering puberty as a boy.

Without the treatment, the girl is likely to grow to six foot with large hands and feet and will find it difficult to pass as a woman.

Smith told the Sun that ‘Georgie’ (not her real name) had known since the age of two that she wanted to be a girl and had been bullied and banned from wearing girls’ uniform at her Dorset school.

She said she looked into sending her to the US for treatment but could not afford the £16,000 cost.

In a video interview with the Sun, Georgie described several suicide attempts and said: “I thought killing myself would be easier than going to school.”

Currently, children in the UK cannot begin hormone therapy for gender reassignment until the age of 16, after puberty has begun.

In other countries, such as the US and Holland, children can begin treatment at an earlier age, thus delaying the onset of puberty and giving them time to explore their options.

Hormone treatment uses hypothalamic blockers which are reversible and puberty can be resumed if treatment is stopped.

It is thought that one in 4,000 people in the UK are receiving treatment for changing gender.

Gender reassignment surgery is not allowed until patients reach the age of 18.

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