There are 160 people currently receiving hormone therapy in Ireland having been diagnosed as transgender.

At present, specialists in this country will not consider assessing a person who may be transgender until they are 16; yet new laws in the UK now sees children as young as 12 receiving treatment with hormone blockers, helping the transition from male to female or vice versa.

Reporter Yvonne Kinsella spoke to mothers who are struggling with their children on a daily basis, to help them cope with accepting the fact they were simply born in the wrong bodies.

One of these children is just six years old; born a boy, but has been living as a girl for the last two years. Listen to Yvonne’s report here:

One issue that worries many parents of transgender children is that of puberty. Yvonne spoke to a mother whose daughter made the decision to live as a boy; making puberty hellish.

"You have a boy getting periods, you have a boy growing breasts. It broke my heart. His mental health was being effected."

To listen back to the full piece, including the conversation with Vanessa Lacey, education officer for TENI, click here: