Dozens of children aged under 10 have been referred to Scotland’s controversial NHS gender clinic, the Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Two youngsters were under five-years-old when they were referred to the Sandyford Clinic in Glasgow.
In total, 53 children under 10-year-old have been referred to the Sandyford – the only facility for ‘gender identity’ treatment for Scottish children.
Campaigners say they should never have been put forward by doctors or parents for gender assessment at such a young age.
The youngsters were directed by their GP, or as ‘self-referrals’, by themselves or their parents.
Glasgow’s controversial Sandyford Clinic
The shock figures – obtained under Freedom of Information by the Scottish Mail on Sunday – sparked concern among campaign groups.
They also come as a potential ban on referrals of under-7s to gender services in England is being considered.
Susan Smith, director of For Women Scotland, which campaigns for the rights of women and children, said: ‘We were aware that young children were being referred but these figures are shocking.
‘We believe that it is dangerous to allow children, often vulnerable, to opt-in to this system as it stands.
‘One of the issues is that there are often co-morbidities, such as mental health issues, and that these children can have a lot of other things going on in their lives.
‘The other issues can be given insufficient regard in the first place or, once a child is put on the gender identity pathway, other issues are ignored or become secondary.
‘We would hope that we can have a proper conversation about how these children be managed in a holistic way. We have to ask if these children are being failed under the current system.’
Stephanie Davies-Aria, of campaign group Transgender Trend, said: ‘A problem is that parents are now interpreting a child’s behaviour as meaning that their child is possibly trans and needs to go to a gender clinic.
‘In 99.9% of cases that child is not going to have any issue, and therefore it shows how much parents are being encouraged to think their child may be transgender based on ordinary behaviour which does not fit gender stereotypes.
‘It is worrying that parents are thinking that way when their child is so young and still developing, and hopefully the Sandyford clinic would reassure them that their child’s behaviour is normal.’
Figures obtained by this newspaper show referrals of those under 10 to the Sandyford include 37 ‘self-referrals’, understood to include referrals via their family, and a handful referred via their GP.
In addition, there was ‘at least one’ child under five referred last year, as well as ‘at least one’ under five in 2022 as well.
The precise figures for this age group are not disclosed by the Health Board as they are less than five in total and, therefore, to protect against potential ‘patient identification’.
It comes after we revealed in June that more than 1,000 children – those under the age of 18 – are waiting for gender change treatment on the NHS in Scotland.
The Sandyford, in Glasgow’s West End, now has more than 4,300 Scots on its waiting lists, a rise of more than 10 per cent on the previous year. Of that list, 1,018 are under 18.
The clinic said earlier this year that it had ‘paused’ the prescribing of puberty blockers to new patients and pledged that under-18s would not get other gender hormone treatments.
That came after the Cass review of gender services for children in England found there was ‘not enough evidence’ that puberty blockers are safe or effective.
There is also a proposal in England to introduce a ‘minimum age threshold of 7 years for referral’ into their ‘gender incongruence service’.
Scottish Conservative MSP Meghan Gallacher said: ‘The increasing number of referrals to the Sandyford is a cause for concern and underlines why the pause on puberty blockers was necessary.
‘Vulnerable youngsters and their families need clarity from gender services in Scotland and SNP ministers should adopt the recommendations of the evidence-based Cass Report in full.’
Findings in April by Dr Hilary Cass added to pressure on the NHS in Scotland to scrap the controversial practice of giving puberty blocking drugs to gender-questioning children.
Children are being referred to the clinic by their GP – or their own family
Stephanie Davies-Aria of campaign group Transgender Trend
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde as well as NHS Lothian decided in March to ‘defer’ putting new patients on hormone suppressants, after a similar move in England.
Then first minister Humza Yousaf said he did not believe there was a clear-cut case to justify shutting the Sandyford clinic, despite the closure of the similar Tavistock facility in London.
Research led by Dr Andreas Kyriakou, of the department of paediatric endocrinology at the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow, also found a ‘disproportionate’ number of those attending the clinic had autistic traits, and that a third of patients had a diagnosis of a mental health disorder.
Other Gender Identity Clinics are located in Aberdeen, Inverness and Edinburgh. The waiting list for a first appointment at the Sandyford currently stands at four years for under 18s and five years for adults.
A spokesman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, which runs the Sandyford, said: ‘We are committed to providing the best possible care for people accessing our gender services.
‘Although they may have been referred to the Sandyford service, pre-teenage patients will not be seen or assessed by our teams.
‘Anyone who seeks to engage with Sandyford’s Gender Service must undergo a full assessment from a multi-disciplinary team.
‘We are continuing the process of contacting people to discuss any support needs that they may have and ensure that they are being met while they wait for their first Gender Service appointment.’
