Those familiar with the work of Our Duty will be aware that we have recently opened a New Zealand chapter. Since then, several reports have emerged of the country doubling down in its medicalised approach to care for kids with trans ideation – so-called ‘gender-affirming care’ – in contrast with other countries which are now adopting a more cautious approach. Several European countries have reduced puberty blockers (PB) prescriptions for most gender-confused youth, instead referring them for therapeutic counselling and support. A significant shift came in March this year when The Netherlands – viewed as the pioneer of PB use – demonstrated doubts about the practice by passing a motion in Parliament to conduct research into the effects of the drug on kids. Similar reports are coming from some US states but the most significant report of all came from NHS England which has announced it is ceasing PB prescription in all but research cases.
PB use is often the first step on a medical pathway that – as growing evidence shows – can lead to sterility and loss of sexual function. These bodily changes are irreversible and are followed by a life-long dependency on medical treatment. There is now-widespread concern that children and young people are too young to understand the full implications of this pathway and may experience regret in adulthood, as the rising number of ‘detransitioners’ demonstrates.
In December 2023 an article appeared in the New Zealand publication North & South, revealing that PB use has increased in New Zealand in recent years and with no minimum age for prescribing, this looks set to increase. The long-term effects of this for New Zealand’s small population of 5.5million are as yet unknown but it can only give rise to concern about the impact on the next generation of kiwi adults. The recent release of the WPATH files has revealed an alarming lack of concern amongst gender clinicians towards the overall well-being of their young patients and their ability to consent to such treatment. The release of these files may ultimately lead to New Zealand re-considering its approach but for now, mainstream media has yet to report on it and WPATH continues to be listed on the website of the main health agency Te Whatu Ora.
In March 2024, Genspect produced a report highlighting the announcement from the New Zealand Government that its drugs agency PHARMAC will fund testosterone gel when prescribed for ‘any relevant clinical use, including for people requiring gender-affirming therapy.’ Previously only available in injection form, this change can only be explained by the massively increasing population of New Zealand women and female adolescents using testosterone as part of ‘gender affirming care.’ In view of other countries questioning the safety of such practice and with rising numbers of detransitioners worldwide, it is alarming to note New Zealand’s continued extreme approach to the affirmation of young people with trans ideation. Additionally, and as highlighted in Genspect’s report, New Zealand has a unique medicolegal environment where harmed patients cannot sue their doctors in all but the most extreme circumstances and so this decision to provide easy access to testosterone gel is particularly alarming.
Concerns are also being raised by various New Zealand groups about another significant move to embed gender identity ideology into the mainstream, with the NZ Midwifery Council’s proposed changes to its Scope of Practice to remove the words ‘woman,’ ‘mother’ and ‘baby’, replacing them with the collective term ‘whanau’, meaning family or community. Further, as highlighted by women’s rights group Mana Wāhine Kōrero in a letter sent to MPs in November 2022, Maori language (Te Reo) is also being misappropriated in violation of Maori customs and tradition.
In feedback received from practicing midwives and other relevant organisations, over 90% of 400 responses were negative towards the proposed changes. Our Duty shares these concerns. We believe that the best start in life for any child is from the encouragement and nourishment of a strong bond between mother and newborn and these proposed changes imply this bond is insignificant. Several groups in New Zealand, with the support of Our Duty, are keeping the pressure on MPs and other relevant parties before the July deadline to ensure that the wording of the Scope of Practice appropriately reflects the childbirth experience.
In February 2024, a group called Public Good raised the alarm about Oranga Tamariki’s new policy for ‘rainbow children’ in care. Oranga Tamariki is the re-branded Ministry for Children tasked with looking after children in care and those at risk of harm, over 60% of which are of Maori descent. After a series of scandals came to light in recent years involving Oranga Tamariki, there is now concern that the new ‘rainbow children’ policy lacks focus on same-sex attracted or gender non-conforming (GNC) children in care. The policy instead focuses on transgender care but the needs of kids experiencing trans ideation are different to the needs of same-sex attracted or GNC kids. As described earlier, medicalised treatment is harmful to the body and there may be other reasons for the child’s distress – but Oranga Tamariki has so far ignored this. And it seems largely unconcerned that, with Maori over-represented in the care system, such damage to this cohort of Maori kids can only disrupt the health of future generations of New Zealand’s minority indigenous population.
In general Maori seem to have embraced the gender movement, viewing it as another movement fighting back against oppression and against the concept of colonisation – a movement that Maori as an oppressed nation is understandably happy to join forces with. But there is a danger that this has created a blind spot. As demonstrated with the changes proposed by the NZ Midwifery Council, Maori language and customs are being distorted and re-defined to align with gender identity ideology – which may become another form of colonisation.
Overseas, there is growing recognition that transitioning children is outright homophobia. At the now-disgraced Tavistock Clinic in England, former clinicians described the prescribing of PBs and cross sex hormones as ‘transing away the gay.’ Some are calling it the modern-day conversion therapy, although ironically it is not a practice that is criminalised by New Zealand’s recently enacted conversion therapy ban. The country’s Age of Majority Act 1970 sets the age of 20 as the age at which a person reaches maturity and with it, the ability to make informed decisions and give consent. Some studies claim that the teenage brain isn’t fully developed until around the age of 25. Why then have kids and young people been considered mature enough to consent to such life-changing procedures?
It is beyond bewildering to note that agencies across New Zealand have yet to acknowledge the reports now emerging from around the world that kids and young people do not have the capacity to understand the long-term implications of ‘gender affirming care’ and the irreversible harm this trendy new movement is inflicting on their bodies. This is not progress.
