The Law and Gender-Affirming Care for Children: Where Do We Go From Here?
Location:
Online only
Date/time
Tue 3 February 2026
13:00 - 14:00
About this event
The provision of gender-affirming care to children in the UK has recently received increased legal, political, media and social scrutiny. Puberty blockers have received particular attention. Following a legislative ban on the sale and supply of puberty blockers, both publicly and privately, trans and gender-questioning children in need of them are left with little recourse. This presentation draws on research examining the relationship between Scots Law and gender-affirming care.
Legally and within UK gender clinics, trans and gender-questioning children are increasingly expected to meet a standard far exceeding that of cisgender children, and decisions in this context have been made without trans voices and experiences being properly heard and considered. This presentation seeks to provide an overview of this medico-legal area, informed by the experiences of trans children and their supporters in UK gender clinics as found in recent academic literature. This presentation will include a general background to this area, discussion of puberty blockers as a form of gender-affirming care, consideration of key legal judgments and relevant legal precedent as they relate to both puberty blockers and the wider ability of children to access and participate in healthcare, and finally, a short overview of a new method by which the law in this context may be evaluated and ways forward may be envisioned.
About the speaker
Lewis Garippa is a lecturer at the University of Dundee, School of Law, with research interests across areas of medical law and ethics, children and medical law, and the regulation of healthcare. Mr Garippa is currently undertaking a PhD specifically examining and evaluating the relationship between Scots Law and gender-affirming care for children. The PhD project is socio-legal in nature, examining the role of the law within a wider context impacted by both socio-legal and medico-legal considerations.
Image credit: Freepik