Vulnerable patients are being “coached” on how to pass a psychological evaluation so as to gain access to gender reassignment hormone therapy and surgery, it has been claimed.
Ireland’s leading endocrinologist, Professor Donal O’Shea, has warned that he believes some advocacy groups are prepping patients to fast-track their way to gender transition – without undergoing an appropriate mental health assessment.
“I have had a number of patients who have told me that they have been coached in the answers to give so that they give the ‘right’ answers to psychologists and psychiatrists who will be asking them questions before receiving hormone treatment and gaining access to surgery,” Prof O’Shea said.
“And I have been told by patients who have had hormone treatment, who have had surgery, who are now unhappy with their decision, that they have been instructed by patient advocates not to report this because it would be bad for the wider community.”
A spokesperson for the activist group, BeLonGTo, denied they coach children and young people to pass such psychological tests. TENI, an activist organisation for people who identify as trans, said no one was available for comment.
