PODCAST: Keira Bell fights the unethical prescribing of hormone blockers to minors in the UK

At 16, Keira Bell was prescribed puberty blockers by the National Health Service’s Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS). She went on to take testosterone, before getting a double mastectomy in pursuit of transition. Bell is now 23, has detransitioned, and is suing the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, which runs the UK’s only gender identity development service for children, challenging the idea minors can consent to hormone blockers and other medical routes towards transition.

On Friday, November 27th, I spoke with Keira about her experience as a teenager, why she felt she was “transgender,” and what gender identity clinics should do differently.

The High Court will rule on the case Tuesday morning.

Update — Dec. 1, 2020: The High Court rules children under 16 are unlikely to be able to give informed consent to puberty-blocking drugs.

PODCAST: Keira Bell fights the unethical prescribing of hormone blockers to minors in the UK
/
Meghan Murphy

Founder & Editor

Meghan Murphy is a freelance writer and journalist from Vancouver, BC. She has been podcasting and writing about feminism since 2010 and has published work in numerous national and international publications, including The Spectator, UnHerd, Quillette, the CBC, New Statesman, Vice, Al Jazeera, The Globe and Mail, and more. Meghan completed a Masters degree in the department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies at Simon Fraser University in 2012 and is now exiled in Mexico with her very photogenic dog.