Currently it is considerably hard for transgender people to transition, this can lead to people becoming extremely uncomfortable with their current body. This experience is even harder for people under eighteen. This is due to the belief that eighteen is the age you become an adult, and therefore old enough to make your own decisions, coincidently, people under eighteen have to undergo a lot of things such as gender therapy and mental health assessments before they can transition, even if they're already 100% certain of what they want to do. I believe that the age to transition should be reduced to sixteen in order to give younger transgender people less of a waiting time. This would be advantageous as some people such as myself become uncomfortable with their current bodies. I believe at sixteen you are mature enough to make decisions for yourself. After going to the GP and bringing up the subject I was directly referred to CAMS, which is personally the wrong direction for me. I mentioned having depression due to not being comfortable with my current gender, so gender therapy would be the best way to go. Gender therapy can be extremely useful for anyone questioning their gender. This is due to the fact you are sat down so that you can talk about how you feel, why you feel that way, and what you feel would be best for you. This is the route a GP should send you down as it is one that can easily confirm wether or not this is something that should go ahead. If someone is wishing to begin transition, speaking to a gender therapist first is certainly the way to go. As a transgender MTF, pre transition, I know that it is considerably hard to transition, and I believe this process should be easier to reduce the amount of time and stress it costs for both the person transitioning, and the GP. Thank you for reading my statement! It is people like you who can give us a brighter future for all!