UNICEF Ignores Parental Consent in Mutilating Surgery for Kids

By | March 14, 2024

NEW YORK, March 15 (C-Fam) The UN agency for children does not have a policy regarding parental consent for giving minors puberty blockers, transgender surgery, and hormonal contraception.

UNICEF has “no position” on whether or not parents should consent or even know if their children are provided “gender-affirming” care and powerful hormonal drugs like puberty blockers and contraception. Lauren Rumble, Associate Director of the UNICEF Gender Equality Programme Group said this speaking to the Friday Fax after an event co-hosted by UNICEF with the United Kingdom titled “What Adolescent Girls Want.”

Rumble was directed to respond to the Friday Fax by Catherine Russell, the director of UNICEF, who spoke at the event.

Just the previous day, the UK’s National Health Service, NHS, announced that it was banning the administration of hormone treatments to minors who experience gender dysphoria because “there is not enough evidence to support the safety or clinical effectiveness” of such drugs. The UK already has a ban on providing transgender surgery for minors.

The Friday Fax asked Rumble if the failure to have a parental notification policy was not against UNICEF’s mandate, which is tied to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Article 18 of the convention assigns the “primary responsibility for the upbringing and development of the child” to parents and requires States to assist parents in this duty.  The Convention also specifically calls for States to respect the decisions of parents concerning their child’s education and their religious and cultural convictions. Recent resolutions adopted by the General Assembly and other UN bodies also affirm the importance of “the direction of parents” in health and education decisions concerning their children.

Rumble said UNICEF did not interpret the binding human rights treaty that way. She said parents have a responsibility to help adolescent children realize their “right to participate in decision-making according to their evolving capacities.” She also said that UNICEF was also only just beginning to roll out programs to educate parents about the human rights of their children.

During the event UNICEF Director Russel maintained that adolescent girls need “sexual and reproductive health” and “comprehensive sexuality education.” Both terms are associated by UN Agencies with “gender-affirming care,” including hormone blockers, cross-sex hormones, and gender transition surgeries.

A 2023 article funded by UNICEF in the British Medical Journal called for the provision of “gender-affirming care for trans and gender diverse people” as part of a “gender-transformative” approach to sexual and reproductive health.

A 2022 guideline of the UN Population Agency, UNFPA, on the provision of sexual and reproductive health care services for adolescents, specifically recommends that, “gender-affirming therapies for persons opting for hormonal therapies should be available.” The agency’s annual report for 2021 defined such “therapies” as including both “hormonal and surgical treatment.”

Other speakers at Monday’s joint UK/UNICEF event also emphasized the importance of “sexual and reproductive health.”

Lord Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon boasted of the United Kingdom’s investments in sexual and reproductive health”, even claiming that every dollar invested in sexual and reproductive health generates a return of eight dollars.

Tina Tchen of the Obama Foundation made a passionate plea for “reproductive freedom” for adolescent girls and invited everyone at the event to “stay vigilant” against recent threats. She took a swipe at traditional religions, saying that “gender discrimination is, literally, written in the Bible.”

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