Am I missing something?
Who allowed an eight year old to have a sex change operation?
No one.
Children are, however, upon presentation of persistent gender dysphoria, allowed to delay their puberty through medication, until such time as they can make an informed decision. Such treatment has no irreversable effects - if the child changes their mind, the treatment can be stopped, and puberty will commence as in a normal child.
However, while gender dysphoria is often temporary in young (pre-pubertal) children, once it persists into early puberty (when such treatment is generally started), it is
extraordinarily rare for a child to “revert”, regardless of whether they receive any form of treatment. If the condition persists until they’re around 14 to 15 years old, such reversal is virtually nonexistent. For that reason, combined with the fact that they will at that age be considered competent to give informed consent, hormone replacement therapy can be started to induce the puberty that fits their gender. This is tremendously helpful; since they will never have virilized (or feminized, in the case of trans men), their lives will be as close to “normal” as possible.
As for surgery, the lower age limit internationally is 18 years. Excemption from this is virtually never given - I’ve heard of
one case internationally, where the circumstances were extraordinary. Giving such an excemption from the international guidelines could cost a surgeon (and the therapists who greenlight the surgery) their license if the decision is not watertight, so in practice, it is not an option.
Additionally, there is a requirement of having completed one year of hormone replacement therapy before being allowed genital surgery. As with the age limit, this requirement is virtually never deviated from, except in very few cases where a patient may not be a candidate for hormone therapy for medical reasons, but still would benefit psychologically from surgery. However, being a candidate for surgery and not for hormone therapy is incredibly rare - again, I’ve heard of one case internationally.
I hope this helped - basically, if you see reports of a child who has transitioned,
they have not received any form of surgery. If under the age of 14 (though generally 15 or 16), they have not received hormones, but may have been allowed to delay their puberty, depending on where they live.
And in the case of an eight years old, even puberty blockers would be meaningless, since they would not have any effect. Such medication is generally started around age 12 (or later, depending on circumstances). So to conclude, this child will probably not have received any medical treatment except counseling at all.
