ABSTRACT
This chapter applies the concept of children’s right to decisional privacy to analyse the judgment of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales in R (Bell) v The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust [2021] EWCA Civ 1363. The Court of Appeal overturned the decision of the High Court of England and Wales, which had made a declaration specifying what informed consent to treatment with puberty blockers would require, and had issued guidance recommending that court authorisation be obtained before puberty blockers were prescribed. Three features of the Court of Appeal’s judgment are examined to advance the argument that the decision is not the resounding victory for transgender and gender diverse (TGD) children’s rights as has been proclaimed: the Court’s failure to conceptualise the issues as being about children and their rights; an evasive judicial approach that found it ‘unnecessary’ to engage with rights-based arguments; and the missed opportunity to communicate the decision to children. However, the Court of Appeal’s judgment arguably bears limited symbolic value for the ability of TGD children to exercise choice in discovering and preserving their gender identity without the need for court intervention.
