Watchful waiting advocates have known for years that the vast majority of children who suffer gender incongruence will grow out of it by the time they are adults, if left without medical intervention. A recent study has proven this to be true.

Researchers in the Netherlands tracked more than 2,700 children from age 11 to their mid-twenties, asking them every three years of feelings about their gender.

Participants were asked to respond to the statement 'I wish to be of the opposite sex' at six different points over 15 years.

Results showed at the start of the research, around one-in-10 children (11 percent) expressed 'gender non-contentedness' to varying degrees.

But by age 25, just one-in-25 (4 percent) said they 'often' or 'sometimes' were discontent with their gender.

The researchers concluded: 'The results of the current study might help adolescents to realize that it is normal to have some doubts about one’s identity and one’s gender identity during this age period and that this is also relatively common.'

Patrick Brown, a fellow at the conservative Ethics and Public Policy Center who was not involved in the research, told DailyMail.com: 'This study provides even more reason to be skeptical towards aggressive steps to facilitate gender transition in childhood and adolescence.

'The fact that rates of satisfaction are lower even just a few years later suggests that for the vast majority of people, prudence and caution, rather than a rush towards permanent surgeries or hormone therapies, will be the best approach for teenagers struggling to make sense of the world and their place in it.

'As such, policies that prohibit gender transition for minors make a great deal of sense.'

Puberty is a human right and the pathway to becoming a mature adult. It is a process that is necessary and beneficial. Yes it can be very uncomfortable and confronting at times, but it is a part of the human condition we must all endure to reach physical, emotional and mental maturity.

Medicating children, turning them into life-long medical patients, by blocking and interfering with puberty, is cruel. The irreversible and catastrophic side effects of such interventions leave gender-confused people with even more issues they must learn to manage.

It is a lie to tell young people they can change sex by taking drugs. No one has ever changed their sex, it is impossible. Lying to vulnerable children is cruel and unkind.