A judge has provoked controversy in Australia by ruling that a 12-year-old girl could begin the first phase of a sex change.
The unnamed girl has begun hormone treatment to block puberty after a judge accepted an application from her mother for her to begin to reassign her gender.
A family court judgment said it was important to act quickly to prevent the onset of puberty as the girl dreaded the prospect of menstruation and developing breasts, and had threatened self-harm.
Surgery to remove her womb and ovaries or construct a penis however cannot be performed before the age of 18.
It’s reported that the girl had thought of herself as a boy since the age of four. Several medical experts, including a psychiatrist, backed her application for a sex change.
The child’s father however opposed the decision, in part because of his daughter’s young age. [Telegraph]
This reminds me of a friend who suffered from the dilemma when he (now a she) was in high school… besides her physical appearance, she looked nothing like a boy at all. Her oddity was constantly teased by her peers, and the guys liked to take off her cloths to ‘prove’ that she was a boy.
She is now transgendered into a woman, but if she have had changed her sex earlier… she could have avoid the tortures and humiliations during high school.
Same concern applies to this Australian girl too, but on the other hand I also share her father’s concern about making the important decision at such young age. It’s a tough call to make, really… and I hope they made the right one.
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although any human being has the right to do whatever they want with their body, i feel that this girl may be too young to fully understand the importance of this decision. does she even understand there’s such a thing as changing gender?
maybe she says that she feels like a boy since four, but in what way?
physically, emotionally or spiritually?
i also know some girls who are quite tomboy and look more like a guy than a girl.
but that doesn’t make them want to change their gender.
i think a better reason for making this change is if the girl feels attracted to other girls, but doesn’t want to be a lesbian.
but it’s complicated…if she does engage in any romantic relationships after the sex change, would her lover be concerned about her/his past?
i don’t know, but if i was her mother, it would be difficult for me to accept this change. maybe this makes me sound very conservative, but there are just things that i feel awkward accepting.
It has to depend on each specific cases… some 12-year-old are indeed more mature than they are supposed to be, while some are still plain childish.
As said, it’s a tough call… for the judge, for her parents, and for herself. We won’t know if it’s the right decision until years later… we can only hope for the best.
i can’t remember what i was doing when i was 12….. very difficult to make this life changing decision, i can not imagine.