A father and son from Brazil have shared their gender transition story online as they become mother and daughter.
Raphael and Gustavo Batista, 10, from Sao Paolo, Brazil, were born with female biological characteristics but now both identify as male.
Gustavo was the first to start his transition at the age of four which gave Raphael the ‘strength and courage’ to also face the transition.
Raphael, 38, stopped identifying as female last year and asked to be referred to as male. In September, Raphael posted a clip on Instagram in which he discussed gender identity.
The clip was captioned, translated from Portuguese: ‘If I have dysphoria in my body? And the answer is yes.’
Asked if Gustavo influenced him, Raphael told G1: ‘It didn’t have any influence, but he [Gustavo] gave me strength and courage to face [the transition].’
The pair share their inspiring story with their nearly 25,000 Instagram followers and many are supporting them in their journey.
The father and son have previously spoken out against people using their ‘dead names’ – the names they went by when they identified as women.
Raphael (right) and Gustavo Batista, 10, (left) from Sao Paolo, Brazil, who both transitioned from mother and daughter share their journey online
‘Even though it is our right to have the social name respected in practice, respect rarely happens in fact,’ the caption reads as translated into English.
Gustavo, who is a student, also works as an actor and has played both transgender and cisgender characters in films.
Gustavo is treated at the Transdisciplinary Outpatient Clinic for Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation at the Institute of Psychiatry and the Pediatric Endocrinology Unit at the Children’s Institute of the Hospital das Clinicas in Sao Paulo.
In the UK, puberty blockers were banned indefinitely for children under-18 who think they are transgender in December because of safety concerns.
The Commission on Human Medicines (CHM) published expert advice that there is ‘currently an unacceptable safety risk in the continued prescription of puberty blockers to children’.
The commission recommended indefinite restrictions while work is done to ensure the safety of children and young people.
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said there is a need to ‘act with caution’ and ‘follow the expert advice’ in caring for this ‘vulnerable group of young people’.
‘Children’s healthcare must always be evidence-led. The independent expert Commission on Human Medicines found that the current prescribing and care pathway for gender dysphoria and incongruence presents an unacceptable safety risk for children and young people,’ he said.
‘Dr Cass’s review also raised safety concerns around the lack of evidence for these medical treatments. We need to act with caution and care when it comes to this vulnerable group of young people, and follow the expert advice.
‘We are working with NHS England to open new gender identity services, so people can access holistic health and wellbeing support they need.’
‘We are setting up a clinical trial into the use of puberty blockers next year, to establish a clear evidence base for the use of this medicine.’
Gustavo was the first to start their transition at the age of four which gave Raphael the ‘strength and courage’ to also face the transition (pictured before Raphael’s transition)
Raphael, 38, stopped identifying as female last year and asked to be referred to as male
The pair share their inspiring story with their nearly 25,000 Instagram followers and many are supporting them in their journey
Dr Hilary Cass, who wrote the Cass Review into children’s gender care and published her final report in April, described puberty blockers as ‘powerful drugs with unproven benefits and significant risks’.
She said: ‘That is why I recommended that they should only be prescribed following a multi-disciplinary assessment and within a research protocol.
‘I support the Government’s decision to continue restrictions on the dispensing of puberty blockers for gender dysphoria outside the NHS where these essential safeguards are not being provided.
Last year the militant doctors union sparked outrage by vowing to fight the introduction of the landmark Cass review into NHS gender identity services for children.
The British Medical Association revealed it will form its own group of members and trans patients to ‘publicly critique’ the inquiry’s findings and bring its own influence on policy.
It is opposed to the planned ban on puberty blockers being prescribed to what it said are ‘victimised’ trans children.
The BMA’s governing council voted to take action in a private meeting earlier this month but the union only disclosed the result.
Leading paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass made more than 30 recommendations to overhaul NHS services in a bid to improve care offered to trans children.
Her report, published last April, took almost four years to produce and found children ‘caught in the middle’ of a toxic row over treatment have been set on a path to irreversible change.
She warned evidence for the use of puberty blockers and hormones relied heavily on ‘shaky foundations’ and associated guidelines were not supported by science.
The news comes after the landmark Cass Report warned children questioning their gender had been ‘let down by a lack of research’ and ‘remarkably weak’ evidence on medical interventions.
In March, NHS Lothian and NHS Greater Glasgow deferred starting new patients on puberty hormone suppressants and gender-affirming hormones.
Then, in May, NHS Lothian paused all referrals to surgery and assessment appointments so as to allow for ‘extensive reviews’. Restrictions were subsequently lifted.
Scottish Conservative equalities spokesperson Tess White MSP said: ‘The number of under-18s referred for specialist procedures is especially concerning. And at a time when NHS waiting lists in Scotland are sky-high, taxpayers will ask why such significant sums were spent funding these procedures in NHS England.’
Susan Buchanan, Director of National Services Directorate at NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) said: ‘All patients referred for surgery are carefully assessed by healthcare professionals, considering individual patient needs and circumstances.’
The Scottish Government said not all patients who are referred proceed to surgery following their consultation.
