30 children in 10 years referred to off-island gender identity services

Friday 17 March 2023

Guernsey’s Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAHMS) has referred 30 children to off-island gender identity services since 2013.

The figure was revealed alongside a raft of new information about gender identity and transgenderism - including £141,240 being budgeted for off-island services in 2023 - after a series of Rule 14 questions were submitted by Deputy Andrea Dudley-Owen.

Children presenting with identity issues have historically been referred off-island to the NHS Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS). The service at London’s Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, however, is slowly winding down and its services to people under the age of 18 is currently closed. 

An alternative national provision for children will be opening instead, after a review found children required a ‘fundamentally different’ model of support than GIDS had been providing.

Pictured: Deputy Dudley-Owen asked HSC for information about transgenderism in the island.

Deputy Dudley-Owen sought to find out more about HSC’s historic referrals to GIDS, its support model going forward and a more general overview of how transgenderism is presenting in the Bailiwick.

"There's an increasing amount of enquiry about the matter of Gender Identity and Transgenderism and I thought it would be helpful to get some facts and figures from the Health & Social Care Committee about what is happening on island,” she told Express.

“I am grateful to them for the responses which I am sure will be of interest to islanders and will help contribute to greater understanding of the matter."

The Questions

After asking how many children have been seen by CAHMS with gender identity issues, Deputy Dudley-Owen was told that it was a difficult number to quantify. However, she was told that since 2013, 30 children have been referred by CAHMS to GIDS. “Of those, 21 children were female to male and 9 were male to female,” said the President of HSC, Deputy Al Brouard.

It was also revealed through questioning that HSC is no longer funding a referral service for children after the closure of GIDS and adults are being referred to a private clinic instead. 

"The budgeted off-island cost for 2023 for gender identity services (but currently only available to adults) is £141,240,” said Deputy Brouard. He said the Committee is waiting for a decision on a replacement for child gender identity services in the UK.

When it comes to adult referrals, Deputy Brouard said 45 people had been referred via Guernsey’s Mental Health Services to “either the adult NHS Gender Identity Clinic (GIC) or the private London Transgender Clinic”. 20 were female to male and 25 were male to female.

Deputy Dudley-Owen then sought to ask more exploratory questions about how transgenderism presents in the population.

“In your response to the 2022 FoI request, you state that up to a third of children referred to GIDS are thought to be on the Autism spectrum. Does it concern the Committee that Autistic children are overrepresented in the cohort of children with gender identity confusion and what does the Committee believe is behind this figure?” she asked.

In response, Deputy Broaurd said CAHMS are aware of the correlation between autism and “gender identity confusion” in the UK, but said there has yet been a consensus on what is behind it. 

Deputy Dudley-Owen also asked a similar question linking an over representation of same-sex attracted children and referrals. 

Deputy Brouard responded with: “Although there is a clear difference between sexuality and gender, in those who are struggling with identity issues, it is not uncommon for both to occur, which is the reason for the over- representation highlighted in the question. This is widely acknowledged and form part of the assessment to ensure that the correct treatment pathway is identified.”

GIDS’ closure didn’t come with its fair share of controversy, including several ‘whistleblowers’ who claimed that immoral practices were occurring within the clinic. It was a topic Deputy Dudley-Owen wanted HSC’s opinion on.

“[The whistleblowers] also claim that many potentially gay children were being sent down the pathway to change gender, with two of the clinicians saying there was a dark joke among staff that there would be no gay people left. One clinician said that it feels like conversion therapy for gay children, and that they frequently had cases where people started identifying as trans after months of horrendous bullying for being gay,” she said.

“Does the evidence of these whistleblowers concern the Committee?”

Deputy Brouard said it “is difficult to form a view based on anecdotal evidence, rather than an official report”. He said: “However, whilst it is acknowledged that sexuality and gender identity can be linked, the two are different and there has never been a desire to conflate or confuse the two. Every case is considered from all aspects and the patient at the centre is supported in the most appropriate way.”

You can read the full list of Rule 14 questions HERE.