Mother pleads for UK to stop allowing her child to take trans hormones

Her challenge follows the latest NHS decision to halt cross-sex hormone prescriptions for under-18s, citing insufficient evidence for their effectiveness.

"The rules that apply to the NHS should apply to the private sector as well. These hormones don't magically become safe just because they are prescribed privately," she told The Telegraph.

Solicitors from Conrathe Gardner LLP have formally contacted the CQC, arguing that vulnerable young people are receiving potent medications privately despite the NHS confirming such treatment is unsafe.

The mother has spent four years battling private providers, which she describes as being "run by activists and ideologues".

Her 17-year-old child was born female, but now identifies as male and resides with their father, who has backed the transition against the mother's wishes.

Private clinics have prescribed both puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to the teenager during this period - treatments now prohibited by the NHS.

The younster currently receives testosterone from Gender Plus, which the mother claims has caused adverse effects, including "joint pain" and "hair growing in places it shouldn't".

"My daughter has mental health issues, she has ADHD, she's same-sex attracted, she's had a history of family trauma," the mother said.

"She ticks pretty much every single box for all these kids that have been convinced into thinking that they're born in the wrong body".

She alleged Gender Plus had overlooked these co-existing conditions entirely.

Gender Plus was established by Dr Aidan Kelly and is currently headed by nurse consultant Paul Carruthers, with both having previously worked at the now-closed Tavistock clinic.

The service operates according to World Professional Association for Transgender Health guidelines, which Dr Hilary Cass's independent review criticised for overstating evidence strength and lacking "developmental rigour and transparency".

Dr Kelly has previously stated he "disputed many of Cass's findings" and accused the NHS of "going backwards instead of forwards".

Mr Carruthers expressed dismay at the NHS decision this week, claiming the "interpretation of the evidence is in contrast to every reputable expert body in the field of transgender healthcare".

The CQC granted Gender Plus its licence in January 2024 and awarded it an "outstanding" rating, with a previous legal challenge against both the regulator and clinic unsuccessful in the High Court last year.

A clinic spokesman stated that independent providers follow different commissioning frameworks, and must ensure treatment is "clinically appropriate, evidence-informed, and delivered with robust safeguards".

The mother spoke of the profound emotional toll, saying: "The worst thing you can do to a mother is take away a child and hurt them".

She expressed fears about her child's future health and fertility, accusing the father of causing harm under the guise of supporting their daughter's choices.

"He won't care when she's broken, when her body doesn't function like it should, when she wants kids and can't have them, he won't care," she said.

The mother criticised the Government for acting too slowly, insisting ministers could have protected children in similar circumstances.

She revealed meeting numerous parents facing comparable situations where former partners had allegedly alienated children and facilitated their transition, turning them into "lifelong patients" and "weapons against loving parents".

Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced a review of cross-sex hormones for under-18s last May, though this has yet to materialise.