The NHS has experienced a 1,000 per cent surge in the number of children being given 'fashionable' gender treatment in the last five years.
More than a thousand kids a year are now being provided treatment to help them identify easier as the opposite sex.
The health boards' Gender Identity Disorder Service treated 1,013 children between April and December last year.
In 2010, just 97 such cases were recorded.
More than a thousand kids a year are now being provided treatment to help them identify easier as the opposite sex. The health boards' Gender Identity Disorder Service treated 1,013 children between April and December last year (stock photograph)
The steep rise has naturally led to a vast increase on the amount of public money being spent providing the required support.
Five years ago the treatments were only costing £1.1million. That figure has now sky-rocketed to £2.6million for last year's nine-month period.
One expert thinks the surge may only be temporary as gender disorder, he claims, is currently 'fashionable'.
Dr Robert Lefever told The Sun: 'Psychological diagnoses are a matter of opinion.
'We have to be sure we are treating the child rather than a psychological issue of a pushy parent.'
U.S reality star Caitlyn Jenner had a high-profile sex change last year, as did former boxing promoter Frank Maloney - who now goes by the name Kellie.
It is a topic that often appears in film and television too.
Under-18s are not legally allowed to go under the knife for any form of gender reassignment surgery.
U.S reality star Caitlyn Jenner (pictured) had a high-profile sex change last year, as did former boxing promoter Frank Maloney - who now goes by the name Kellie. It is a topic that often appears in film and television too
However, the NHS does provide a number of support mechanisms for children who may be questioning their sex.
The child and heir family are given counselling and, in some instances, hormone blocking treatments.
London's Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust is the only health board currently offering the service. As well as the capital, it has clinics in Leeds, Brighton and Exeter.
Medical experts are worried however that if the number of children seeking gender treatment keeps increasing then it could end up 'overwhelming the health service'.
Bernard Reed, of the Gender Identity Research and Education Society, said NHS services were 'not really geared up and trained to help meet this growing need for medical care'.
And Dr Polly Carmichael, director at the GIDS, added: 'It has become very difficult now to predict whether referrals will carry on rising.'
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