Julie Alderson is a British psychologist and anti-transgender activist. Alderson spoke at the 2024 conference held by anti-trans hate group Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM).
Alderson is a member of the Children and Young People’s Gender Dysphoria Research Oversight Board convened by the UK NHS to oversee trans healthcare for minors, including the proposed PATHWAYS clinical trial of puberty blockers.
Background
Julie Alderson was born in August 1967. According to Alderson’s SEGM profile:
“Consultant Clinical Psychologist within the UK National Health Service. Julie has worked clinically and in research with people with variations in sex development/variations in sex characteristics (formerly referred to as intersex conditions and disorders/differences of sexual development). She was a founding member of The British Association for Paediatric and Adolescent Gynaecology (BritSPAG), Chair of Trustees of the charity dsdfamilies, and NHS England Clinical Lead for DSD Psychosocial Care. She chaired the NHS England Training and Education Group as part of the Children and Young People (CYP) Services Portfolio. She is Chair of the British Psychological Society’s task and finish group to develop a CYP discussion paper. Her current clinical work is with parents of newborns, children, and adults attending endocrine and gynecology services regarding sex development. She also sees a wide range of other pediatric presentations for short-term advice and guidance. Her organizational role for the previous year has been to establish a new CYP Gender Service in the South West of England that will provide holistic healthcare as part of the national implementation of the Cass Review (2024). This service will begin meeting with children from November 2024.”
Alderson has published work on young people with variations in sex development.
In 2011, Alderson established the website Orchard Lea Psychology. In 2023, Alderson and Ingram Wright founded Orchardlea Psychology Limited.
Anti-trans activism
In 2024, journalist Erin Reed reported:
“Among the NHS officials and associates speaking at the conference are Riittakerttu Kaltiala, an advisor to the Cass Review who has worked with Governor Ron DeSantis’ appointees in Florida to ban transgender care in the state; Trilby (Tilly) Langton, an author of the systematic reviews used to justify the Cass Review in the United Kingdom; Michael Absoud [see this site’s profile], deputy head of the upcoming United Kingdom puberty blocker trial; Anastassis Spiliadis, an early proponent of modern trans conversion therapy methods and a trainer for NHS children’s gender services; and Julie Alderson, who is responsible for establishing a new Southern NHS Children’s Gender Service in the United Kingdom. Notably, none of these officials spoke at the World Professional Association for Transgender Health conference, held the week prior.”
In 2026, UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting paused the NHS PATHWAYS clinical trial on puberty blockers in after receiving a letter from Professor Jacob George advising a delay due to long-term safety concerns. Journalist Alice McCool reported:
“Streeting cited the allegations of bias by Jacob George when he paused the trial. The Good Law Project can also reveal that the trial’s lead investigator, Professor Emily Simonoff, spoke at an event organised by anti-trans lobby group Society for Evidence-based Gender Medicine (SEGM), which the Southern Poverty Law Center in the US has designated a hate group. Two other senior investigators in the trial – Dr Michael Absoud and Dr Julie Alderson – previously spoke at SEGM’s conference.”
References
McCool, Alice (April 2, 2026). How the US Christian Right and Anti-Abortion Lobbyists are Reshaping NHS Policy. Byline Times https://bylinetimes.com/2026/04/02/how-the-us-christian-right-and-anti-abortion-lobbyists-are-reshaping-nhs-policy/
Reed, Erin (October 3, 2024). NHS Trans Care Officials Speak At Anti-Trans Hate Group SEGM’s Conference. Erin In The Morning https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/nhs-trans-care-officials-speak-at
Harriet, Jessica (October 4, 2024). Anti-Trans hate group SEGM embedded in the NHS gender services. Jessica’s Substack https://jessicaharriet.substack.com/p/anti-trans-hate-group-segm-embedded
Selected writing by Alderson
Callaghan, T. D., Anderson, J. L., Bristowe, S., Esterhuizen, A., & Spady, D. (2025). Mind the gap: decreasing disparities in care for transgender patients. Education for Primary Care, 36(4), 128–131. https://doi.org/10.1080/14739879.2025.2476163
Horrigan, C., Alderson, J., Park, J., & Giri, D. (2025). 45, X/46, XY mosaicism and gender incongruence: ethical, medical, and psychological considerations. Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism, 38(10), 1086–1091. https://doi.org/10.1515/jpem-2025-0197
Cools, M., Cheng, E. Y., Hall, J., Alderson, J., Amies Oelschlager, A.-M., Balen, A. H., Chan, Y.-M., Geffner, M. E., Gravholt, C. H., Güran, T., Hoebeke, P., Lee, P., Magritte, E., Matos, D., McElreavey, K., Meyer-Bahlburg, H. F. L., Rink, R. C., Springer, A., Szymanski, K. M., Vilain, E., Williams, J., Wolffenbuttel, K.P., Sandberg, D., Subramaniam, R. (2024). Multi-Stakeholder Opinion Statement on the Care of Individuals Born with Differences of Sex Development: Common Ground and Opportunities for Improvement. Hormone Research in Paediatrics, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1159/000536296
Giri, D., Yewale, S., Hickingbotham, H., Williams, C., Shalaby, M., Alderson, J., & Park, J. (2025). Mixed Gonadal Dysgenesis: A Comprehensive Review of Clinical Spectrum, Diagnostic Strategies, and Management Approaches. Clinical Endocrinology, 104(2), 92–102. https://doi.org/10.1111/cen.70053
Renyard, F., Towler, R., Alderson, J., & Sargant, N. (2024). 6896 A reproducible online resource designed for young people to support the HEEADSSS assessment. In Paediatric Mental Health Association (p. A350.1-A350). BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Abstracts of the RCPCH Conference, Birmingham, 25 March 2024 – 27 March 2024. https://doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2024-rcpch.553 PDF https://adc.bmj.com/content/archdischild/109/Suppl_1/A350.1.full.pdf
Alderson, J. (2019). Struggle. Clinical Psychology Forum, 1(318), 12–12. https://doi.org/10.53841/bpscpf.2019.1.318.12
Gough, B., Weyman, N., Alderson, J., Butler, G., & Stoner, M. (2008). ‘They did not have a word’: The parental quest to locate a ‘true sex’ for their intersex children. Psychology & Health, 23(4), 493–507. https://doi.org/10.1080/14768320601176170
Alderson, J., Madill, A., & Balen, A. (2004). Fear of devaluation: Understanding the experience of intersexed women with androgen insensitivity syndrome. British Journal of Health Psychology, 9(1), 81–100. https://doi.org/10.1348/135910704322778740
Resources
ResearchGate (researchgate.net)
- Julie Alderson
- researchgate.net/profile/Julie-Alderson-2
X/Twitter (https://x.com/)
Orchard Lea Psychology (orchardlea.org) [archive]
dsdfamilies (dsdfamilies.org)