LogFAQs > #980328709

So the article seems to be saying the UK are going down the "if you don't get trans treatment through the NHS you can't get it" while at the same time putting up all sorts of barriers preventing people getting trans treatment through the NHS whether that being massive red tape or just insanely long waiting times?

Is that the gist?

I'm not particularly in favor for people needing to resort to 3rd party clinics abroad mainly for potential health and safety reasons. I feel the same for many treatments people may feel the need to go abroad for. It also potentially bypasses the important early engagement stages of actually understanding why a patient wants to transition, make sure it's what they really want to do, give them all the facts, give them time to reflect and ultimately allow people to make a fully informed choice.

Don't get me wrong. I completely understand why people feel like that is their only option with so many barriers in place to trying to get treatment through traditional pathways. It's a crying shame people need to resort to this to get the care they need.

It's such a awkward situation because due to puberty the best time to get trans treatment is before puberty fully hits but on the flip side due to the barriers in place it means people are forced to rely on foreign clinics and potentially bypass those early discussions in order to start transitioning before "time runs out".

In an ideal world the NHS would have more resources available to people wanting to transition so they can start their journey earlier, be able to make an informed choice and not have to rely on other avenues that are potentially less save. I can't help feel the lack of resources available is the plan tbh.

It feels like the plan is purely... wait it out and hope people give up on wanting to transition. Which is obviously wrong.