Australian parents who banned their 15-year-old daughter from surgery to correct sex characteristics and hormone therapy were deprived of custody of the child by court order. This was reported by the British portal Metro, citing local newspapers.
Juvenile services went to court after the parents did not allow the teenager to start taking testosterone, demanding a new medical opinion from an independent specialist.
It is reported that the key factor for the deprivation of parental rights was that the girl discussed the possibility of suicide. She accuses her parents of not recognizing her gender identity and verbal abuse. The parents deny the fact of violence and say that their daughter suffered from severe mental conditions and needed professional help – the family had recently moved, and it was difficult for her to adapt to the new environment against the background of the transitional age.
In recent years, cases of gender dysphoria among adolescents have increasingly been reported in the media. At the end of last year, it was reported that over the past 10 years, the number of British minors wishing to change sex and queuing up for appropriate medical procedures has increased more than 20 times. Moreover, 70 percent of adolescents with this problem are girls.