THE number of children being treated for gender identity disorder in Scotland has quadrupled in just three years – to more than 200 cases last year.

It is understood the majority of the under-17s undergoing treatment are being prescribed puberty-blocking drugs, though precise Scottish figures are not yet available.

Around 800 are receiving treatment in England.

The country’s specialist gender identity centre for young people, the Sandyford Clinic in Glasgow, has seen a 300 per cent rise in referrals, from fewer than 50 in 2013.

Doctors say the onset of puberty can cause “significant” distress to young people who identify as transgender and medicating to delay the physical hallmarks of adulthood provides huge relief to children and their families.

Young people who are born feeling that their gender is not the same as their biological sex find the prospect of their body changing traumatic. In some cases, according to trans activists, treatment can be quite simply life-saving as trans young people have taken their own lives rather than go through puberty. Read more via Herald Scotland