A judge has provoked controversy in Australia by ruling that an unnamed girl may began hormone treatment to block puberty, per an application from her mother for her to begin to reassign her gender.
-- From "Judge gives girl, 12, go-ahead to change sex" by Nick Squires in Sydney, posted at the Telegraph 5/26/08
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.
It was reported yesterday that during a hearing in December, the court heard that the girl from Victoria 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.
"In my view, and on all the evidence, the treatment is in [the child's] best interests," the judgment said.
Further court applications will have to be made if the child wants to take the process further. Surgery to remove her womb and ovaries or construct a penis cannot be performed before the age of 18.
But the child's father bitterly opposed the decision, in part because of his daughter's young age, the court was told.
A medical ethicist, Dr. Nicholas Tonti-Filippini, said the decision was astounding. "Twelve is a time of great uncertainty for a young person ... I would question whether the medical evidence supports treating [her] in this way."
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