Parents of 17-year-old launch High Court battle to stop teen changing gender
THE parents of a 17-year-old have launched a High Court bid to block their child from changing gender.
They took the highly unusual move after the child forged their mother’s signature to get hormone replacement therapy on the NHS.
The teen was born a boy but identifies as a girl and is being backed in court by their GP.
The parents insist the child lacks the mental capacity to consent to the treatment.
In court papers they say no proper assessment of the teen’s mental and physical health has been done.
They also fear grave psychiatric harm if the child is allowed to continue with “an inappropriate, negligently given, life-altering treatment”.
The case is believed to be the first of its kind.
The parents are separately seeking a judicial review of the GP’s role in prescribing HRT.
The Royal College of GPs previously stated medics should not prescribe gender-affirming hormones to patients under the age of 18.
The child, who lives with their parents, started HRT last October, ahead of a referral to specialist gender services.
London’s High Court was told treatment began four weeks after the child forged their mum’s signature on a self-assessment form.
Mr Justice MacDonald said the child “emphasises the law gives her permission to make her own decision”.
The court heard the child, described as “eloquent, articulate, and sensible” instructed a solicitor and is happy and doing A-levels.
The child told the court: “I live in two opposite worlds — one in my household, where I am seen as less than, and the other outside the home where I am calm and grounded.”
Case adjourned until a later date.