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Man castrated in gender transition sues NHS clinic for maiming his body
By Brandon Showalter,
Senior Investigative Reporter
Christian Post
NHS workers take part in the annual pride parade in London, England, on July 6, 2019.
| NIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP via Getty Images
A British man who claims he was pressured into having surgery to remove his genitals and has since suffered irreparable damage is suing the NHS clinic where he sought help for gender dysphoria.
In an exclusive interview with The Daily Mail, a man named Ritchie Herron said the vaginoplasty he underwent at the behest of the NHS gender clinic in Newcastle, England, was “the biggest mistake of his life” and now he experiences painful physiological complications, including numbness, incontinence and infertility.
His harrowing ordeal first became known to the public earlier this month when he shared his story on Twitter under the pseudonym TullipR. In a June 13 thread that subsequently went viral, he divulged the multitude of challenges he now faces in his postoperative daily life.
In an interview with The Christian Post via email, Herron said in the days since his thread went viral he has "had an outpouring of support and empathy, a great deal of compassion."
"I was fully bracing to be judged harshly by the masses, and yet that didn’t happen. I was met with kindness, support, well wishes and empathy. Many kind individuals wished me well and [said they are] praying for me even, which was touching and humbling," Herron said.
"I’ve been judged, too, sometimes through the lens of fear, other times through misunderstanding and others through anger. But for me, it’s just words on a screen. I hold no ill will against anyone who does seek to judge," he added.
Among the challenges he detailed in the June 13 tweet thread are that it now takes him 10 minutes to urinate, his crotch area is completely numb, and the surgery did not alleviate his mental distress as he was led to believe it would. Herron recounted to the Daily Mail that he thought he was fast-tracked into undergoing a permanent surgery and that NHS clinicians did not take into account his worsening mental health.
Herron, who had begun referring to himself by the female name "Abby" while identifying as transgender, said he had repeatedly turned down suggestions that he undergo a gender surgery and relayed his concerns to the clinic's staff. He reportedly turned down a vaginoplasty in 2015 and again in 2017. When he refused the surgery the second time he said that he was told that the rejection of the referral meant he would be discharged from the service, which he believed also meant the withdrawal of the therapy he had been receiving, something he considered valuable.
In May 2018, he finally underwent the operation that entailed the removal of both testicles and his penis. The surgeon then took the remaining tissue and skin to surgically create female genitalia. Herron said his mindset at the time was, “I’m here now, there’s no stopping it even if I wanted to.”
Following the surgery, Herron said he was deeply regretful, recalling his first thought as: “Oh God, what have I done" as he lay in bed in a blur of painkillers.
I think this is where most trans people find themselves. It is why there is such a spectacular percentage of trans youth who attempt suicide.
Herron is now preparing to take legal action against the NHS Foundation Trust and his attorney told the Daily Mail that his client is facing "a lifetime of medical care and consequences" and he "cannot be put back together again."
Don't let anyone tell you this is reversible. You will never be the same again.
Herron told the Daily Mail that his clinicians "failed to identify red flags and change direction." "Proper consideration needs to be given to issues such as OCD, internalised homophobia, depression, drug use, sexual abuse and childhood trauma as potential reasons for patients’ rejecting their sexed body."
He believes that more lawsuits will be filed in a few years, perhaps by people who were inspired by his claim, and described the moment as “an avalanche waiting to happen.”
In an interview with Kallie Fell, host of the California-based Center for Bioethics & Culture’s "Venus Rising" podcast, Herron said the detransitioning — the process of reintegrating with his natal sex — has been more challenging the (than?) undergoing gender-transition, particularly navigating the healthcare bureaucracy to file complaints against the gender clinic.
When asked during the podcast what he would say to those questioning their gender, Herron replied that they need to get off of the internet, spend time in nature, and recognize that this is an obsession.
Yes! A dark obsession! A demonic obsession! A mental illness!
“When you obsess about your gender, are you trans, are you not trans, that is an obsession. And the important part of disengaging from the internet is to stop feeling it and to remind you of what’s real. Because when you realize what’s real in the world, you’ll realize what’s real within you and how you feel,” he said.
Herron further stressed that it's important to explore the various contributing factors to gender dysphoria, explaining that some mental health issues are categorized as gender distress, when, in fact, there might be other neurological issues underlying it.
Last year, the Center for Bioethics & Culture released a 50-minute documentary film scrutinizing the medicalization of gender, titled “Trans Mission: What’s the Rush to Reassign Gender?” The group is now in post-production on a new film that will feature the stories of young women who have detransitioned.
The NHS Trust told the Daily Mail in a statement that though it was unable to comment on any individual's health records, the care plans for each person “are collaborative and tailored to each patient’s needs and goals, and treatment decisions are made following a thorough assessment in line with national recommendations.”
Herron’s ordeal follows the efforts of Keira Bell, a female detransitioner who was a plaintiff in the judicial review against the NHS Tavistock gender clinic in London. Bell, who was prescribed experimental hormone blockers as a minor and then went on to take opposite sex hormones and undergo a double mastectomy, argued that, as a teenager, she was incapable of understanding the long-term repercussions of what the experimental drugs would do to her long-term health, including leaving her potentially infertile.
Though the U.K. High Court of Justice initially ruled in Bell’s favor and found that children were not able to give consent to the experimental drugs under the relevant standard in the nation — often referred to as “Gillick competency” which dates back to a 1986 case involving birth control — and that the Tavistock’s clinical and record-keeping practices were inadequate, the decision was reversed in September 2021.
In the United States, scrutiny of the experimental medicalization of gender has increased in recent days amid the emergence of documentary films challenging the claims of its effectiveness.
Last week, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., introduced legislation that would allow detransitioners to sue the doctors who performed the experimental procedures and body mutilating gender surgeries on them while they were minors, with a 30-year statute of limitations.
Herron believes that his ordeal is proof that “the whole system has to become far more robust.”
“How many more people are there out there like me?’
Herron told CP that he is part of several detrans community groups, "from the front-facing reddit with 35,000 members, to the support groups."
"[T]here are many, many stories yet to be told. I wish my story was an outlier; I wish it was a fluke, but it’s not and many more are coming forward since that tweet," he said.
You're a hero, Ritchie! A courageous, articulate hero! God bless you.
American Academy of Pediatrics accused of silencing doctors'
criticism of puberty blockers
By Samantha Kamman,
Christian Post Reporter
A biological boy who identifies as a girl named leans on a hammock at his home in Buenos Aires, Argentina. | Reuters
The American College of Pediatrics has been accused of stonewalling debate on hormone drugs and puberty blockers as some member doctors have pushed back against a drug-first approach for children with gender dysphoria.
In a document titled "In Support of a Rigorous Systematic Review of Evidence and Policy 4 Update for Management of Pediatric Gender Dysphoria" (Resolution 27), five AAP members voiced concerns about using hormones and surgeries as the first line of treatment for gender dysphoria instead of counseling or therapy.
The medical professionals cite evidence for psychotherapy as a treatment option, including a systemic review conducted by the Finnish Health Authority purporting this should be the first line of treatment instead of puberty blockers and sex hormones.
In the resolution critics hoped would be considered at the 2022 AAP Annual Leadership Conference this month, AAP members call for the academy to undergo a systemic review regarding the safety of childhood sex transition and update its 2018 guidelines based on the results.
The AAP's 2018 guidelines for gender dysphoric children include medical intervention and puberty suppression as potential ways to help those who identify as the opposite gender.
However, the AAP has allegedly blocked members from launching a policy review based on Resolution 27 and blocked comments on Resolution 27.
In comments leaked to The Daily Mail by a whistleblower, members voiced their concerns in the comments section for a different resolution on the AAP's members-only website.
One member said there is no "open dialogue on the medical treatments by the AAP." Another, Julia Mason, an Oregon-based pediatrician and one of the Resolution 27 authors, said an increasing number of colleagues want to slow down handing out puberty blockers. Instead, they want to spend more time evaluating trans-identifying teens.
In response to an inquiry from The Christian Post, a spokesperson for the AAP cited a blog written by AAP President Moira Szilagyi, MD, Ph.D., FAAP, last Wednesday.
Szilagyi wrote that AAP's gender-affirming policy is grounded in supporting LGBT teens through their "journey" and helping them be "the best person they can be."
The spokesperson also pointed to the organization's 2018 guidelines outlining its approach to children with gender dysphoria.
Genspect, an organization that supports "an evidence-based approach to gender distress," published an open letter last month criticizing AAP for stifling debate on the resolution.
"We want our children to be affirmed as whole human beings, and we want them to be treated with evidence-based interventions which ensure that benefits outweigh risks," the open letter states.
"We are very concerned that the AAP is currently representing only one set of views on how best to help our children thrive — namely both social (names, pronouns, etc.) and medical transition (puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, surgeries), which the AAP refers to as 'affirmative care.' Many of our children have received this care and are anything but thriving."
"It is alarming that not a single chapter or committee within the AAP was willing to 'sponsor' a resolution that asks to conduct a non-partisan and systematic review of evidence in pediatric gender medicine — something the AAP has never done," the group's letter adds.
"It is even more alarming that the AAP appears to be preemptively suppressing debate by not allowing comments on 'unsponsored' resolutions, a rule that did not exist last year when a similar 'unsponsored' resolution got many supportive pediatrician votes and comments."
Quentin L. Van Meter, M.D., president and co-executive director of the conservative association American College of Pediatricians (APEDS), said that the AAP's guidelines "are the opinions of ideologues, not scientist physicians or members."
"When I once was an active Fellow in the American Academy of Pediatrics (I resigned ten years ago), I was very active in leadership roles at the state and national levels," he wrote in a Friday statement to CP.
"I attended the Annual Leadership Forum where the state Chapter leaders and District leaders from the United States would bring resolutions from the membership to a discussion and vote that resulted in a slate of proposals based on current concerns of the membership at large."
"Well, last year and this year, there were resolutions which called to question the accuracy and wisdom of following the 2018 AAP Transgender Policy paper," Van Meter wrote.
"The resolution from the 2021 Forum was approved by 80% of the voting members, and yet it was never given consideration by the Executive Leadership and it was buried without comment."
Van Meter said this upset members and prompted a stronger resolution for the 2022 forum. To prevent the forum from voting on this year's resolution, Van Meter claims the AAP changed its rules to prevent discussion and voting on Resolution 27.
There is more to this maddening story at The Christian Post.
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Youngest Xgender model will be rich in this mad, mad world
By CAROLINE GRAHAM IN LOS ANGELES
FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY
PUBLISHED: 17:17 EDT, 27 August 2022
Her parents say she was born with a ‘fierce and confident sense of identity’. And that self-assurance can clearly be seen on the catwalk, where ten-year-old Noella McMaher has become the world’s youngest transgender model.
Noella – who fashion insiders say could make her first million in the next year – first identified as transgender at ‘two-and-a-half nearing three’, according to her biological mother Dee, 35, who now identifies as a ‘trans masculine male’ and cites Noella as an inspiration.
In an exclusive interview with The Mail on Sunday, Dee said: ‘My spouse and I are both non-binary.
‘In terms of gender identity, Noella came out before either of us. She was born with a fierce and confident sense of identity.
Noella McMaher became the youngest transgender model to walk the runway at a fashion show in New York last week and is set to 'make millions' say experts
‘It first started at two-and-a-half nearing three. Someone would say to her that she was a cute boy and she would snap back and exclaim, “I’m not a boy, I’m a girl!’’’
But this story of our times has sparked widespread concern. One campaigner described it as ‘abhorrent’ and suggested Noella’s mother was actively pushing her to become trans.
Noella ‘socially transitioned’ at four and the family changed her legal birth certificate from ‘boy’ to ‘girl’ when she was six.
She hit the headlines in America last week when she became the youngest transgender model to walk the runway at a fashion show in New York.
Now, she is being bombarded with modelling offers and will walk the catwalk at Paris fashion week this year.
A Hollywood agent said ‘Noella is a phenomenon. She’s only ten but represents so much in terms of where the world is now. We are seeing more transgender models and she’s the ultimate in terms of being a woke role model.
‘She is so confident for someone so young. She’s capable of making a million to two million dollars in the next year.’
But it emerged that Noella’s biological father has been airbrushed out of the media profiles published in the US last week.
Timothy McCord, a Chicago-based scientist, was so against her transition that he allegedly tried to force the child into boys’ pyjamas and fractured her arm.
Noella with her biological mother Dee, who has been married to Ray – a 32-year-old biological female who has also identified as transgender since 2019
He was visiting at the time – he and Dee were separated.
According to legal papers, McCord pleaded guilty to a child endangerment charge.
Last week, he said he had not seen Noella or his son Levi since, adding: ‘I tried to get back into their lives but it was too contentious and stressful for everyone.’
Dee, who has been married to Ray – a 32-year-old biological female who has also identified as transgender since 2019 – now has a baby who is being raised as non-binary.
Noella first identified as transgender at ‘two-and-a-half nearing three’ according to her mother
Dee refers to the baby as ‘theybie’.
Sinead Watson, who changed gender from female to male at 23 and then changed her mind and ‘de-transitioned’ four years later, said: ‘We’re seeing more and more parents with Munchausen syndrome by proxy.
'It’s not the kids who are trans, it’s the parents who want them to be trans.’
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