A 13-year-old transgender child can be given puberty blocking medical treatment without the consent of her father, according to a landmark Queensland court ruling.
The decision would overrule a previous determination that both parents must give consent for such a treatment to occur.
The mother of the child, who cannot be named for legal reasons, applied to Queensland’s Supreme Court to urgently access the treatment.
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The court was told the child requires treatment to block the onset of puberty amid concerns about her mental health if she began to show more masculine characteristics.
She was born male but began to identify as female from age four.
That includes wearing girls’ clothing, preferably pink, and uniform when she reached school.
She also chose a female name on the school roll and her bus pass, with her state primary school affirming her choice to identify as a girl.
‘Consistent’ identity
The court was also told despite being autistic and having “massive meltdowns”, she is an above average student who now being home school.
“I have formed the view that (she) has been insistent, persistent and consistent in her female gender identity for six years, first disclosing ... at age four that she was a girl,” the girl’s psychiatrist, who also cannot be named, told the court.
“She initially for some time would not wear anything other than full length clothes and did not like to reveal her body.
“One day they went shopping and found clothes that were more female and felt comfortable.
“She is socially transitioned, and her friends know her as (her female name).
“(She is) clear about her female identity and desire to be female through feminising surgeries and gender affirming hormone treatment in the future.”
The psychiatrist fears puberty could negatively impact her mental health, as she has expressed views that life would not be worth living as a male.
But under a recent Family Court ruling, her intended use of puberty blocking medicine must be consented by both her parents.
Supreme Court Justice Ann Lyons was told the girl’s father has not been in contact with the family since 2017.
His whereabouts are unknown and he was abusive and a drug user when he was with the family.
Lyons has ruled allowing the girl access to the puberty blocking treatment is in her “best interests”.
"‘(She is) clear about her female identity and desire to be female through feminising surgeries and gender affirming hormone treatment in the future.’"
“There will be considerable delay in ascertaining the views of the father in relation to the proposed treatment,” she said.
“Delaying treatment to seek and obtain (the) father’s consent is not in the best interests of (the girl).
“I am satisfied that orders should be made in the terms sought as it is clearly in the best interests of (the girl) that treatment should commence without delay.”