Jayden Lowe
Age 1822 Sep 2018
Meldreth, Cambridgeshire (United Kingdom)
Suicide
Jayden died by suicide. He was on a waiting list for an NHS Gender Identity Clinic and was struggling with the delays involved.
A transgender Cambridgeshire teenager took his own life after delays accessing gender affirming treatment on the NHS, a coroner's court heard today (March 29).
Jayden Lowe's death on September 22, 2018, followed the recent breakdown of a relationship he kept hidden from his parents.
The aspiring art student, of Meldreth, was born [deadname], but told doctors when he was 16 he knew from an early age he was a boy and changed his name by deed poll at the age of 17. Despite support offered by his local GP, an inquest heard how he struggled to get help to transition on the NHS and resorted to buying hormone replacement treatment online.
His mother Claire Lowe said her son had told to her about a month before his death, he had to be referred to an adult clinic because he was turning 18.
This meant an additional two-year wait for treatment, the coroner's court heard.
Mother Claire said Jayden told her: "I can't carry on living like this."
She said: "That's why we allowed him to go online to seek his solution. We backed him because he was desperate. He was just living for the day he would just be a proper boy". She also recalled how Jayden told her: "You don't deserve a trans kid, it's not fair," and she had reassured him: "We don't want another kid."
She said: "He thought it was unreasonable he had to live half girl, half boy. Since he started taking the testosterone we thought that things were looking up but that was maybe too little, too late."
In a statement, a specialist in gender reassignment, who Jayden had a consultation with, noted the one transition clinic in London's Tavistock Square had "extensive waiting lists, not in accordance with the NHS constitution". He said Jayden had been on a child and adolescent waiting list for 11 months but because he was turning 18 was not eligible and would have to wait an additional two years to be seen in an adult clinic.
In a statement Jayden's father Neil Lowe, recalled how his son had good grades in all his studies, was doing A-Levels, and wanted to go on to study History of Art at Oxford University. He said from an early age Jayden wanted to be known as 'Jess' and the family were aware he was transgender. However, long waiting lists for NHS reassignment treatment had forced the teen to "give up" and order male hormone treatment online. He said: "Jayden has started taking these very recently before his death."
Jayden's death was not recorded on the official TDoR 2018 list released by Transgender Europe (TGEU).
https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/residents/births-deaths-and-marriages/deaths/coroner-and-inquests/
