Saras World

Thomas Lobel, 11, is having hormone blocking treatment to stop him going through puberty as a boy. He started transition therapy when he was eight years old.

His adoptive parents, lesbian couple Pauline Moreno and Debra Lobel, have defended the decision for Thomas, who now calls himself Tammy, to begin treatment to change sex at such a young age.

They believe children with gender identity disorder – or gender dysphoria – who are forced to propose transitioning into adulthood face a higher risk of suicide. Last week we covered the story of 10-year-old Livvy James who left school as a boy and returned to school after the summer holidays as a girl with her parents’ blessing after being diagnosed with gender dysphoria.

The couple from Berkeley, California, are adamant they have not pressurised him into making the decision to become a girl; that one of the first things Thomas told them when he learned sign language aged three, learned because of a speech impediment, was, ‘I am a girl’. Pauline says Tammy was shy and unhappy as a boy compared to his older, more outgoing brothers.

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