why do we have an age of consent for sexual activity? it's because society knows that a child is not capable of giving consent. if that child said he wanted to have sex with person "X" said person would be guilty of a crime.

seems to me the parents have condoned worse.
if sex with an adult is a scarring thing, which i think it is, why on earth would not having your sex organs mutilated be judged on the same scale?

An eight-year-old does not have the reasoning capacity--they quite literally lack it on a neurological level--to even begin to perceive the contours of a choice like this. Setting aside that the boy was years away from sexual maturation, full abstract reasoning capacity doesn't develop until age twelve or thirteen. And as we all know from our experiences as adolescents, there are still years of development ahead.

In light of all that, the parents deserve to smacked upside the head. I predict unimagined consequences for them that they will come to regret.

And what happens when little Jenny decides at thirteen that she is now a "boy".

Stupid.

WTF

I have significant doubts about this story.

This is against both all normal medical ethics; and the formal guidelines of gender reassignment centers all over the world.

Sounds like another "balloon boy" hoax.

How very, very sad. I'm afraid a lot of liberal parents are responsible for a lot of teens deciding they are Gay. They give them the green light on exploring what sex they want to be. Good grief. Can't they look in a mirror? They get so confused by their parents encouraging them to sleep around with different sexes they don't know who they are anymore.

This is child abuse. Straight up! as a liberal racist we all know, would say.

Where in the world did they go to have the operation?! Do medical ethics truly not have rules regarding this? Or are the rules so lax that this did not raise any attention in the media prior to the surgery?

Also, regarding the age of abstract reasoning - it only *starts* to develop around the age of 12-14. It does not stop developing until around the age of 21-23.

And I cannot help but recall the case of one of the first adolescent transsexual surgeries - in which years later the person decided to reverse it.

Sounds like another "balloon boy" hoax.

6. Posted by 914.

Until I read otherwise, I have to feel that 914 has probably nailed it.

As insane as this world seems, I have real problems swallowing this one.

-

Salacious material, incomplete information, no comment.

Sex change operations should be totaly banned

The Telegraph story really offers no information whatsoever. This story has a bit more information.

Not sure where I come down on this sort of thing. Mainly, I'm curious whether there's something biological that leads a person identify with the other gender.

So many people conflate genitalia with sexual activity, and identity with both.

So many people conflate their first "excitement" experience with their natural orientation.

So many people are screwed up as a result.

What if the kid decided he was really black? Or was genetically a Klingon?

How is it that an eight year old, who doesn't even have the legal capacity to have sex with Roman Polanski yet, get to decide what sex he is?

" I'm curious whether there's something biological that leads a person identify with the other gender."

There are several known conditions that can cause this. In fact there are a couple of Y and X chromosome defects that can lead to 'XY females.' In such cases a person has the male XY pair, but display female primary and secondary sexual characteristics (and so far as I know self-identify as 'female.' All such cases are infertile, though some conditions actually result in a semi-functional womb.
There are also genetic conditions where an XY male is only partially masculinized. These conditions can range from 'hermaphodism' (or more properly 'undifferentiated genetalia') through micro-penis/infertility to reduced fertility.
This would be an excellent case for study with regards to gender identity and biology, I think.
While I tend to agree that 8 is too early, we do have to operate on the assumption that parents know what is best for their children, otherwise how are we any different from the progressives/communists/fascists who ever seek to strip parents of their rights and responsibilities towards their own children?

Do none of you realize that she hasn't had surgery yet?

She's been put on hormone blockers to prevent male puberty from occurring (if she were to stop them, normal male primary and secondary sex characteristics would occur at puberty). She plans on taking hormones and having surgery in the future.

What is wrong with this? Nothing has happened that isn't able to be stopped and she has time to make plans that are best for her future and her health.

I started testosterone at sixteen (I'm a female-to-male transsexual). I'm now 19, a straight A college student and am active in my community and in a stable relationship with another man. I am perfectly well adjusted and not confused at all.

Kudos to her for figuring things out early and being brave and her parents for letting her access the things she needs to be comfortable and happy.