Transgender youths have claimed they feel ignored and disappointed by the Cass Review into gender care. Sean Donovan, 19, who was part of the review’s focus groups, has stated that the positive lived experiences of trans children who had been able to access puberty blockers were not included in the report. After a four-year wait, the Cass Review, commissioned by NHS England in 2020 following a sharp rise in the number of patients referred to the NHS who were questioning their gender, was published on 10 April. The 388-page report suggested “extreme caution” when prescribing puberty blockers or masculinising or feminising hormones in the form of testosterone or oestrogen.
The review suggested a holistic approach to assess a child’s needs, including screening for neurodevelopmental conditions and a mental health assessment. Mr Donovan said none of this would have helped him, as he just needed transition support. He claimed the report “pushed too hard” on mental health and made trans children “out to be these traumatised kids when that’s not the case at all”. Gwion Williams, 20, stated that the review contained no explanation of how holistic support would work, “other than searching for other diagnoses”.
A spokesperson for the Welsh government confirmed that they are committed to improving support available for young people in Wales in line with the commitments in their LGBTQ+ plan, and will consider the review’s findings to provide support for young people questioning their gender.
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