Sex-changing treatment for kids: It's on the rise [View all]

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CHICAGO (AP) -- A small but growing number of teens and even younger children who think they were born the wrong sex are getting support from parents and from doctors who give them sex-changing treatments, according to reports in the medical journal Pediatrics.

It's an issue that raises ethical questions, and some experts urge caution in treating children with puberty-blocking drugs and hormones.

An 8-year-old second-grader in Los Angeles is a typical patient. Born a girl, the child announced at 18 months, "I a boy" and has stuck with that belief. The family was shocked but now refers to the child as a boy and is watching for the first signs of puberty to begin treatment, his mother told The Associated Press.

Pediatricians need to know these kids exist and deserve treatment, said Dr. Norman Spack, author of one of three reports published Monday and director of one of the nation's first gender identity medical clinics, at Children's Hospital Boston.

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From the UK :

Boy, 5, lives his life as a GIRL after becoming one of the youngest ever to be diagnosed on the NHS with 'Gender Identity Disorder'

A five-year-old who felt he was a girl trapped in a boy's body has become one of the youngest-ever children to be diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder.

From the age of three Zach Avery refused to live as a boy, instead choosing to wear pink dresses and ribbons in his long, blonde hair.

He also became obsessed with the girly children’s TV character Dora the Explorer.

Parents Theresa and Darren Avery, 41, became worried by Zach's behaviour and took him to the doctors.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2103686/Boy-5-lives-life-GIRL-youngest-diagnosed-NHS-Gender-Identity-Disorder.html#ixzz1mv1PCDav