God. Finally some actual sense in this whole mess.
The NHS is about to start testing kids who believe they're transgender for autism and ADHD. About bloody time, if you ask me. I've been following this story since 2019 when my cousin's kid started questioning their gender identity, and the family was just... lost. No proper guidance, no thorough assessment, just a fast-track to life-altering decisions. Makes me furious thinking about it.
The science nobody wanted to talk about
For years, experts have been quietly pointing to links between neurodevelopmental conditions and gender dysphoria. But mention that in the wrong company and suddenly you're labeled as something awful. I watched a researcher get absolutely torn apart at a conference in Manchester last year for suggesting we needed more data. Poor woman looked like she wanted to disappear into teh floor.
These new assessments will look at the whole picture - screening for neurodevelopmental conditions, mental health issues, family relationships, and sexual development. It's what parents like my friend Sarah have been begging for since her 14-year-old announced they were trans after three friends in the same social media group did the same.
"They treated my concerns like I was some kind of monster," she texted me last night after hearing this news. "Maybe now they'll actually listen."
What took so damn long?
The changes follow Baroness Hilary Cass's report that dropped like a bomb last year. She called for a "more cautious approach" and moving away from the medical model that rushed kids onto puberty blockers.
I remember reading that report at 2am, unable to sleep, thinking how many kids might have been spared unnecessary medical interventions if we'd had these guidelines sooner.
Parents breathing sighs of relief
The Bayswater Support Group, which represents families with trans-identifying children, called the more holistic NHS assessment "welcome" - which might win the understatement of the year award.
I spoke with one dad (who asked not to be named because, well, welcome to 2024) who spent £3,200 on private assessments trying to get someone to look at his child's autism before gender treatments. "We just wanted someone to consider everything," he said. "Our kid had sensory issues since they were 3. How was that not relevant?"
Supreme Court bombshell and the "toilet police" that never were
This all happens against the backdrop of last week's Supreme Court ruling that trans women are not women - a legal earthquake that's still sending aftershocks through policy circles.
Cabinet Office boss Pat McFadden had to actually clarify there were no plans for "toilet police" (I mean... seriously? Is that where we are now?)
Meanwhile, Tory Leader Kemi Badenoch celebrated the ruling as "a victory for all women who faced personal abuse or lost their jobs for stating the obvious. Women are women and men are men: you cannot change your biological sex."
Where do we go from here?
Look, I'm not pretending this is simple. My neighbor's kid has been so much happier since transitioning at 19. And that's after proper assessment and therapy.
But I've watched families torn apart by rushed decisions when other issues weren't addressed.
The new guidance will be released for public consultation soon and rolled out this year. I'll be watching closely - adn probably losing sleep reading the details when they come out.
Because sometimes the kindest thing isn't the fastest path. Sometimes it's making sure we understand everything that's happening before making life-altering decisions.
That's just common sense.
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