Mick Hartley

 A grim tale in the Telegraph from a mother whose 12-year-old daughter – later diagnosed as autistic – suddenly decided she was a boy:

Alarmingly, almost all of Jo’s friends adopted a trans identity around the same time, strongly suggesting to us that social contagion was an issue. Her letter to us, in November 2020, was in her hand but the words didn’t sound like her own, and I feared she was repeating narratives she had seen on TikTok. Such a cruel ultimatum was so out of character for her; just a few months before she had excitedly and unabashedly told us that the girl she had a crush on was rumoured to be crushing on her too (she was, we took them bowling, it was adorable). We wondered what had led to these feelings of dysphoria when she had never shown any discomfort with her sex or body.

My husband and I knew from media coverage that the correct thing to do was use requested pronouns and names and that the potential consequence of not doing so was the reportedly high trans suicide rate (we have since learnt this idea is misleading and potentially drives more suicides). Every agency and expert we turned to told us to “affirm” everything and question nothing – including the potential use of powerful hormonal drugs that could suppress our daughter’s adolescence and lead to irreparable damage to her body. Even social services told us we should not be talking about it….

Despite all our support, her mental health worsened and during a trivial argument she blurted out that a few months previously she had taken an overdose of paracetamol, with the intention of ending her life. Distraught, we locked away meds and sharps and sought medical help. Our GP referred us to social services to see what support they could provide. A week later, a social worker was inspecting our home, interviewing us and, separately, our child. Her report arrived the next week, and as I read it, blood pounded in my ears. It stated that Jo was “a 13-year-old white British male who was born into a biologically female body”, with the directive “you do not need to discuss his gender identity at all”.

Luckily the woman found support from a group of gender critical women, and developed the strength and understnding to fight back despite the inevitable cries of "transphobia". Her daughter apeears to be same-sex attracted, and, though still troubled, has managed to avoid the medical interventions that all the authorities were so determined that the poor girl should suffer. Still….sheesh.