‘It’s a girl!’ New parents, after a long labour or at a mid-pregnancy scan, take huge joy from discovering the sex of their baby. Imagined futures fall into place as the newborn becomes a son or daughter. Relatives are told whether they have a niece or nephew, a grandson or granddaughter. These things matter. Not, for the most part, because parents have a preference, but because with the sex announced, a mystery is revealed and a new person takes his or her place in the world.
Shockingly, it seems that the NHS is intent on denying mothers and fathers this pleasure. A new patient record system, produced by a giant American IT company, Epic Systems, gives midwives the option of recording a baby’s gender identity. In other words, not whether the baby is male or female but whether it feels itself to be more masculine or feminine.
This is far worse than simply reinforcing stereotypes
In my experience as a mum of three, the best way of finding out whether my offspring were boys or girls was with a quick glance between their legs. If memory serves me correctly, this happened multiple times a day when their nappies were changed. My babies were all quite advanced, of course, but I am certain that if I had asked them about their gender identity, I would have been met with wailing, vomiting or yawning. Quite right too.
The notion that babies are born with a ‘gender identity’ is ludicrous. Yet the software being used by the NHS could plant this thought in parents’ heads by backing up the question on gender identity with an inquiry as to the new baby’s preferred pronouns. Honestly, if I had been asked this question immediately postpartum, it would not have been my son doing the screaming.
How are mothers (if we can still use that word) supposed to respond other than with tears? As few newborns are familiar with Judith Butler or fluent in the language of gender ideology, parents are, presumably, being asked to conclude ‘boy’ if their newborn kicks away a pink blanket and ‘girl’ if they gurn at a doll. Encouraging this line of thought reinforces outdated stereotypes. Far worse, it risks setting young children off on a lifelong route through puberty blockers, cross sex hormones, painful surgery and infertility.
Midwives sceptical about the whole gender identity thing can, it seems, skate over this question, should they choose to do so. Although having previously been told to refer to ‘birthing parent’ rather than ‘mother’, ‘chest-feeding’ rather than ‘breast-feeding’ and ‘human milk’ rather than ‘breast milk’, midwifery does seem to be a profession where common sense is currently in short supply. But nurses with gumption, or a murderous mother to have to tend to, could simply skip ahead in completing the new patient’s record.
If they do, they will discover the next question on the list asks them to state the baby’s ‘sex assigned at birth’. This pernicious phrase implies, yet again, that sex is not biological. It suggests that sex is not evident from a baby’s genitals, as well as, crucially, their hormones and chromosomes. Instead, it suggests that sex is something that doctors and midwives ‘assign’, seemingly randomly, perhaps by tossing a coin or picking up on a vibe. Shockingly, there is no place at all to record a straightforward ‘male’ or ‘female’.
This is far worse than simply reinforcing stereotypes. Accurately recording sex on a patient’s health record is vital for ensuring they receive the correct medical care. There are genetic conditions, such as Klinefelter syndrome, that only occur in boys. Patients with ‘gender identity’, rather than ‘sex’, noted on their health records could miss out on relevant screening tests, not just as children but later in life. Prostate tests and cervical smears save lives. But if medical notes are confused, appointments will be missed.
The madness, however, does not stop there. The American forms also have a question about the newborn’s sexuality. Seriously. Parents are expected to look at their darling baby and label him or her ‘gay’, ‘straight’ or perhaps, for the more adventurous, ‘bi-curious’ or ‘pansexual’. Again, we’ve got to ask: based on what? A facial expression? A limp wrist? This is offensive to all concerned.
The NHS urgently needs to call time on these inappropriate new patient forms. They might please a tiny minority of super-woke parents who will relish the opportunity to define their child as progressive and special. But the vast majority of new mums and dads will be offended that a precious time in their lives is being exploited to political ends and in ways that may harm their child.
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