At four years old, identifying a child as transgender is not only too early but child abuse

A four-year old child is now the youngest Australian on record to change their gender. Drowned out in the media hysteria that the news of this story unleashed have been the concerns quietly expressed by many people, parents and experts alike.

Four years old … too young. Far too young.

Gender dysphoria means distress as a result of the gender you are born with. It is not real and is deemed to be a mental health issue alone. Making support and treatment available is necessary and important

But psychologists and gender dysphoria 'so called' experts remain divided as to the best course of action for a four-year-old presenting with gender mental health issues. The specific details of this four-year-old's case have not been publicly revealed due to privacy concerns. Fair enough.

However, because we haven't heard the actual story of the family involved, we have been left with the public commentary of what appears to some, to be sounding more like an industry aimed at normalising such events, rather than concerned specialists wanting to ensure the best possible outcomes for all families who may need to grapple with this issue now or in the future.

Balance seems to have gone out of the window and alternative views have not been properly canvassed. Puberty is not even on the horizon for a four-year-old. Perhaps a little bit of 'wait and see' may be the best course of action?

Some experts in the limelight keep stressing that the transition of this four-year-old child does NOT mean surgery resulting in a sex change.

Until this case, most people would never have even considered a four-year-old to be able to identify as transgender. Transgenderism operations were ceased at a particular hospital becuase the doctors and psychiatrists decided you cant change your genes or DNA and in reality it it a mental health issue that can be addressed with drugs and therapy.

Likewise, until recently, WA children wanting puberty-blocking drugs needed permission from the Family Court. But now, you only have to go to court when someone actively disagrees that medications are in the best interests of the child. Puberty is not even on the horizon for a four-year-old. Perhaps a little bit of 'wait and see' may be the best course of action?

The minimum age for stage-two hormone treatment is 16. Some want it lowered to 14. But some emerging international evidence seems to suggest that perhaps we really do need to hasten very very slowly in this area.

In Sweden, which is renowned for its tolerance of diversity, suicide rates are up to 20 times higher among adults who have undergone hormone and sex assignment surgery. Teens come out of this period of confusion and return back to their biological sex.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association says that as many as 98 per cent of gender-confused boys and 88 per cent of gender-confused girls eventually accept their biological sex after naturally passing through puberty.

Some Australian psychologists and psychiatrists I have spoken to don't want to go on the record as opposing the whole notion of allowing the four-year old to transition.

Their reason is simple. They fear that, instead of being able to talk freely on the issue, they will be attacked by the social justice warriors. As one said, "the minority will have again held a profession to ransom so it is easier not to speak out in the media."

In WA, the gender clinic at Princess Margaret Hospital, which began in 2010, receives around 26 referrals a year for children aged up to 16. The youngest is believed to be eight.

Referrals for gender dysphoria in NSW have reportedly tripled. In Victoria one major hospital reported that it had 250 children being assisted by the gender dysphoria unit. Yet a decade ago it had just one.

Highlighting the struggles of transgender people is important and helps us understand an extremely complex issue. But we should not allow such a complex issue be turned into another area where only the politically correct are allowed to comment.

In a ground-breaking recent report, eminent psychiatrists Dr Lawrence Mayer and Dr Paul McHugh have found that "only a small percentage of children who experience confusion about their gender identity will continue to experience this confusion into adolescence or adulthood".

Confusion has certainly been the hallmark of Walt Heyer's life. From his own experience, he has emerged as a strong reminder that a change of gender is not always the end of the matter.

"The world of regretters that I see and support is vastly different from the world of the transition advocates, those in a relentless pursuit to convince the world that being transgender is the ultimate of all genders," he said.

"The advocate world includes intellectuals and medical practitioners, who benefit financially and professionally from providing transition services to this population of hurting people".

Walt Heyer was 42, married for 16 years and a father of two. He describes the fantasy of changing genders as a passionate longing since he was 15 when he first heard someone had done it.

Now, he openly regrets his decision. His surgery cannot be reversed. He has no choice but to remain with his surgically-altered transgender female body but lives as a man again.

"The regretters who have contacted me report that none of their doctors recommended treatment for underlying psychological distress. Instead, the psychologists were quick to diagnose them with gender dysphoria.

"The media are hell-bent on glamorising transgenders. The media find stories of transition newsworthy. Warning signs such as robust objective research findings apparently are not newsworthy and not reported.

"My experience was no different. Everyone was supportive and interested while I lived the transgender life. Now that I have gone back, producers are not interested in my story. Recovery isn't as titillating a subject and doesn't reach the ratings stratosphere," Heyer said.

Rightly or wrongly, a four-year old child in NSW has already been labelled. Yet the challenges for the child and the family have only just begun.

Karalee Katsambanis is a mother-of-three and a journalist for more than 20 years. Listen to her on 6PR's PerthTonight with Chris Ilsley between 9pm-10pm on Mondays.