The Civil Appeals Office have announced that the next 2 day appeal hearing will be 23/24th June 2021. 

It is expected to be held live in court (but obviously this might change due to Covid situation).

I apologize to people visiting the page since Tuesday 2nd and finding no news! This result has created a huge amount of interest both here in the UK and worldwide- it's been hectic. . In case you are somewhere with no internet or TV - Keira Bell and Mrs A and the legal team (with all the fantastic witness statements  provided from world experts in their fields-thankyou), were successful in the judicial review. - All 3 judges agreed that children are unlikely to be able to give informed consent to this experimental treatment. It is a thoughtful, and at first reading, complex, judgement, but I'm sure the details will be emerging over the coming days. But to clarify - this does not mean that children can NEVER be given this medical treatment.  It has NOT attacked or removed Gillick competency. What it means is that every clinician who believes it is in the child's best interest to have hormone treatments will have to bring their case before the courts. Even in the 16-18 age group, the judges suggested this might be appropriate due to the nature of the treatment. 

The Tavistock have until the 22nd December to appeal which they have said they will do. Until then they are not able to accept any referrals and GIDS  now have to review every child on their patient files  who  have commenced  hormone treatments. If the senior assessing clinician believes the child should continue on hormones, then they too will have to apply to the court with their evidence of assessment and the child's capacity to give informed consent, to ensure that their consent was appropriate and valid in terms of meeting the  criteria the judges laid out.

We are all relieved, because it will ensure that there is a review of the  treatment processes of all the current patients on hormones. The concerned parents who have contacted me and other clinicians with their worries, that their children were not adequately psychologically assessed and treated, will now have a second opportunity to have this experimental treatment reviewed in their child's case. Then independent eyes in court can decide what is best, given the evidence.

Lastly,  several of the medical/professional groups connected in this area that  I am aware of, have expressed their concerns, but also ideas and suggestions  to assist NHSEngland  in their duty to ensure that adequate psychological support and treatment is available to the many distressed and anxious children and their families who have been sitting on the GIDS waiting list for years, and many others who  will have been affected further by this judgement. They will be wondering what path their children should now be on. NHS England so far have given their directives to the Tavistock and we await further news about the development of alternative treatment models and services.

Thank you so much to all of you who have helped Keira Bell and Mrs A in their successful judicial review. We genuinely couldn't have done it without you. 

Susan

At 10.30 hrs UK time tomorrow December 1st, the claimants Mrs A and Keira Bell, along with their legal team will hear the judgement on this case.

Whichever way it goes, we are all so, SO grateful to you for all of your supportive messages and generous donations. I remember when Mrs A and  I first started the CrowdJustice page,  I was literally brought to tears by the messages  you sent to us both in the first few weeks of launching. I know that Keira has hugely appreciated your solid support since she became a claimant in the case, and throughout  the time she has been working  to publicise the necessity for improving the care of young people. 

Anyway  ....... until tomorrow...........

Thank you 

Dear Backers,

Thank you to our recent supporters and thank you thank you to those of you who have contributed again. That is very generous of you because we appreciate what a sacrifice it is for some at this difficult 'covid time'.

Tomorrow is the big day. We are in court on 7th/8th October.

There has been confusion around whether the proceedings would be in court or 'virtual'. After various permutations it looks like the case will be heard at the high court on Wednesday morning. The most recent communication from the courts said that the public will be admitted on a 'first come first served basis'.

Mrs A and Keira are the claimants who are aiming to protect Child A and the children of the future by questioning the legality of asking young people to give informed consent to this experimental medical treatment. 

Please if you have time today, share this Crowdjustice link with anybody you know who might be willing to support them. Some people don't think this matter really concerns them, but gradually we are seeing more young people, their parents, siblings, grandparents and extended families affected by the prospect of this medical treatment causing potential irreversible harm to their loved ones.It needs to be safer and evidence based for the future generations

It is not long now until the trial (7/8 October). All of our evidence was finally submitted to the Court on Friday 28^thAugust. We are delighted that some very eminent specialists from different parts of the world have provided witness statements. We have presented evidence for our serious concerns about the life-long medical and social consequences of young people going through transition, as well as highlighting the experimental nature of this treatment. It is simply inconceivable that a 15 year old (and even younger children and teenagers), would have the necessary maturity to fully understand what they were doing in consenting to medical transition. We have also raised serious concerns that the clinical guidelines that are currently followed, have been shaped by activism, rather than science and medical evidence.

There has been a significant amount of interest from groups that have wanted to become formally involved in the case. Transgendertrend has been allowed to participate, as has a 13 year old trans-child. Mermaids and Stonewall have been refused permission to get involved.

We want to thank you for your generosity in helping us get this far. We haven’t reached our funding target and still have a long way to go. This case is so important for the protection and welfare of children and families and we are asking that you consider encouraging friends and family to donate and to donate again if you possibly can.

with huge thanks from

Mrs A (mother to a 15 year old child) and Keira Bell

With things slowly returning to a  new normal, we can focus back on our aim of asking the judiciary to examine if it is unlawful for children to be asked to give informed consent to potentially harmful experimental drug treatments.  Currently if a child consents to this medical treatment pathway,  it will affect their adult future - a life they are not yet living and is usually envisaged, through their often distressed and dysphoric state of mind. 

The court date for the Judicial Review has been moved to the 7/8th October 2020. This is, understandably, to allow the Tavistock and NHS England additional time to prepare their defence, while managing the additional challenges of the Covid crisis.

I will aim to update more regularly now, as things start moving again. Thank you again for all your support and kind messages. They really help.

 Keira Bell Statement

I have become a claimant in this case because I do not believe that children and young people can consent to the use of powerful and experimental hormone drugs like I did. I believe that the current affirmative system put in place by the Tavistock is inadequate as it does not allow for exploration of these gender dysphoric feelings nor does it seek to find the underlying causes of this condition. Hormone changing drugs and surgery does not work for everyone and it certainly should not be offered to someone under the age of 18 when they are emotionally and mentally vulnerable . The treatment urgently needs to change so that it does not put young people, like me, on a torturous and unnecessary path that is permanent and life changing."

I want to thank Sue Evans for having the courage to begin this case. Many members of the public here and around the world have given financially and sent messages of encouragement. With your help I plan to finish what Sue has begun.

I will be working together with Sue to raise awareness about the harmful medical treatment offered to children with gender dysphoria.

Big news this week. Keira Bell has joined  Mrs A as claimants in the case. We all agreed this substitution,  and I will continue to be a witness. 

Keira is somebody who has been directly and permanently affected by the Gender Identity services, where she received medical treatments, which she now believes to be inappropriate and unnecessary. She hopes to prevent this happening to other children in the future. 

Going forward, I will continue to be involved and offer my support to both Mrs A and Keira. At the beginning of this journey it was important for Mrs A to have a co-claimant and I believe we have worked supportively and extremely hard  together with our legal team in bringing the case to the point it is at now. 

We now await  the Tavistock Gids  response to our evidence - I am advised that we might hope to hear something towards the end of February 

Thank you so much to everyone who is donating so generously to the case fund. As I write this our total is over £34,000.

 Our legal team have told us that  there will now be approximately 4 weeks and then the Judge will look at  the evidence submitted from both sides and make a decision about whether to grant a judicial review. 

Please keep sharing the link and letting people know about what is currently happening to many young people, who deserve better evidence based treatment and  support with their feelings of confusion, discomfort and distress about themselves.