BY LUCY DIAVOLO
This week, a new court ruling in England dramatically altered the lives of the country’s transgender youth. As Reuters reported, three High Court judges ruled that children under 16 aren’t capable of giving fully informed consent for trans medical care — meaning that any trans kids attempting to obtain medication like puberty blockers will now need to go to court to get them.
That’s a significant change in policy. The informed consent model has completely changed the way trans people can access medical care, empowering patients to obtain their own care by giving them the power to decide on their own treatment. Given the history of medical gatekeeping around gender-affirming care for trans people, informed consent is a model that lets trans people pursue their own care without having to jump through as many hoops as other models.
To get a better sense of how England’s new policy will impact the country’s trans youth, we spoke with 18-year-old trans man and Mermaids service user Alex Vellins from Manchester, who shared his reaction to this week’s sad news. Here’s what he had to say.
Teen Vogue: Could you share your reaction to the news this week?
Alex Vellins: I'm terrified this judgment is going to sentence trans teens to years of excruciating puberty causing unmanageable levels of dysphoria and distress. I sympathize with Keira Bell, and understand that blockers have risks and that the evidence base is uncertain, but this has to be weighed against keeping children from transitioning and the resulting mental health crisis.
TV: Transition is a very personal and private journey, but could you tell us a little about what your journey has been like in the legal framework that existed prior to this ruling?
AV: It took me 18 months to get onto blockers. And I was lucky in that I came up quite a while ago, so the waiting list was short. Just waiting for blockers between the ages of 12 and 14 was excruciating. I remember hating, like, everyone involved. But they were so firm on it, like, “This is the protocol. We have to wait, and we have to make sure that you're fully okay with this,” and all that kind of thing. It's not an affirmation model. It's very critical of what you say, and they challenge everything that you say. There's a social worker involved and a clinical psychologist, and then there's countless questionnaires.
TV: That sounds like a lot of obstacles to receiving care.
AV: Yes. A hundred percent. Like, the waiting list now is two years just to be seen, and then how long it takes to get into blockers. I think the nature of the process has been lied about. It's not like [I say], “I'm trans,” [and then they say,] “Okay. Stab! Here's the blockers.” It's very excruciating.