Thinking Time, Shifting Goalposts and Ticking Time Bombs: Experiences of Waiting on the Gender Identity Development Service Waiting List.

Abstract

LOGiC-Q is a prospective longitudinal qualitative study that explores the experiences of children and young people, and their families, who have been referred to the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) in the UK. This paper describes the experiences of children and young people and their parents while they are on the waiting list to be seen. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 39 families who had been referred to GIDS and were waiting for their first appointment with the service. Both parent and child/young person were interviewed. Analysis of the anonymised interview transcripts was informed by both narrative and thematic approaches, and three predominant narratives around waiting were identified: 1. Positive experiences attached to waiting; 2. Feelings of distress and stuckness; 3. Suggestions for support while waiting. Findings from this study indicate variations in how waiting is experienced depending on the age of the child, and how distressed their body makes them feel. Young people and their parents offered suggestions for how the service could support families on the waiting list. These suggestions related primarily to ways of checking in and providing reassurance that they were at least still on the list as well as ideas about how to make the wait less distressing, rather than necessarily making the wait shorter, which was more spoken about in terms of an ideal rather than a realistic option.