Newsround Blog has previously advised parents of gender nonconforming kids to avoid having anything to do with a trans activist group called Mermaids.

Yesterday trans activist, Carol Steele, inadvertently proved my point in a post to an LGBT internet forum:

No reputable clinic either in the US or Thailand (or anywhere else that I am aware of) supports surgical intervention under the age of 18.

Would Mermaids recommend any disreputable clinics/hospitals - absolutely NOT.

In fact, the person in charge of Mermaids sent her own child to Thailand in order to get round laws that protect children in the United Kingdom.

"I never felt like a girl - I always thought there was something different about me" - that's what Leo says in one of the clips in a trailer for CBBC's autumn schedule. It actually comes from an award-winning, but highly controversial documentary called "I am Leo", which was first broadcast almost two years ago.


Trailer for CBBC's autumn programmes

Perhaps people won't be surprised that Leo felt different when they learn that Leo's mum, Hayley, "knew" the gender of her child because of her difficult pregnancy.

Hayley Waddell: 'I knew when I was pregnant with Leo that something was different ... I've been pregnant with three other girls and this one was completely new. I was so horribly sick all the way through. I was just certain I was having a boy.'

It's been a busy week for Leo Waddell, transgender star of the controversial BBC children's documentary I Am Leo. Presumably he got special permission to take time off school to appear, firstly, at this year's Children's Media Conference in Sheffield, where he opened the BBC Commissioner Conversations session. Panelists included CBBC's Cheryl Taylor, and Kay Benbow from CBeebies.

Report by Simon Bor – Commissioner Conversations: BBC

Then, today, Leo was a speaker at Stonewall's Education for All Conference in London -

Now Leo isn't very old yet still there was no information out there for him or his mum #trans #EdForAll pic.twitter.com/GOGDTyDWbn

— Young Pride in Herts (@HertsYoungPride) July 8, 2016

Leo Waddell (left) with mum Hayley in London's QE II Centre - 8th July 2016