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After years of irreversible treatments, Mel Jefferies has filed a lawsuit against Monash Health and two doctors, alleging they failed in their duty of care by fast-tracking her gender transition without properly assessing her mental health.

When Mel Jefferies looks in the mirror today, she sees a woman living with the consequences of a decision.

A decision, she believes, she should never have made.

A decision, she claims, was made without informed consent.

Now 33, Mel Jefferies, has launched legal proceedings in the Victorian County Court against psychiatrist Dr Jaco Erasmus, general practitioner Dr Jeff Wilcox, and Monash Health, Victoria’s largest public health service.

The statement of claim, recently lodged with the court, accuses the three parties of failing to meet professional standards of care in treating her for gender dysphoria.

Jefferies claims the medical professionals did not sufficiently assess or address her complex mental health conditions before prescribing testosterone and referring her for a double mastectomy.

The result, she alleges, has been “significant injury” resulting from those irreversible interventions.

Jefferies’ Troubled Childhood

Speaking with Sky News host Rita Panahi, Jefferies, wearing a silver cross necklace, begins by explaining she had “quite a troubled childhood, and it led into turbulent teenage years.”

“During year 11, I experienced a sexual assault by a schoolmate. That created quite a level of discomfort in my body and being perceived as female.”

“I saw a youth gender GP clinic and they connected me with a trans activist when I was either 16 or 17.”

“And that’s when I really got into believing, ‘This explains the discomfort and problems that I’ve experienced’.”

Panahi questioned whether Mel’s desire to transition was based on feeling safe as a male.

“There was an aspect of that”, she replied.

The primary reason “why I don’t have my breasts is because I experienced quite a few situations of non-consensual touching.”

One of these times was during a stay at a psychiatric ward. “This man didn’t know what I was, so he groped my breasts”, she recalled.

The experience was “terrifying” because it involved not only sexual abuse, but also abuse that Mel believed she was shielded from by presenting herself as a male.

The untreated trauma resulted in an intensifying aversion to her female body.

“Most of my life, I’ve considered myself asexual. I was quite disgusted by having a period and the thought of motherhood.”

Autism Diagnosis Came Too Late

Only two years ago, Jefferies was formally diagnosed with autism, citing it as the reason for beginning the lawsuit.

She insists that an earlier diagnosis would have caused her life to lead in a different direction.

“I was screened for autism at five”, she said. “I had selective mutism, so there were a few signs. But they said, ‘No, you’re just anxious’.”

“If I had known I was autistic when I was a child, I would have had a better understanding of why I felt alienated from my body, my family, and society.”

Gender Dysphoria Diagnosis

In September 2023, 7NEWS Spotlight reporter Liam Bartlett interviewed Jefferies in an eight-minute segment of the documentary titled “De-Transitioning”.

Barlett asked Mel – who previously called herself ‘Mason’ – how long it took to be diagnosed with gender dysphoria and allowed to access testosterone.

To Barlett’s shock, she answered: “Under an hour.”

The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) guidelines state that health practitioners must “Ensure any mental health conditions that could negatively impact the outcome of gender-affirming medical treatments are assessed, with risks and benefits discussed, before a decision is made regarding treatment.”

According to the legal filing, these standards were not followed. To support this claim, the case document includes letters from a psychologist and a doctor stating that Jefferies was not ready for gender transitioning. Instead, counselling was recommended for “social isolation and family dynamics of concern” and her ongoing anxiety.

The statement of claim continues, “By virtue of the results of the prior consultations, reasonable medical practice… required [Dr Jeff Willcox] not commence the testosterone treatment until… the Plaintiff’s mental health difficulties were under control and her mental health [was] stable.”

However, Willcox started the treatment in 2011 “without consideration of the [earlier] recommendations”, the document says.

Fear, Pressure, and a Culture of Silence

Jefferies says she was quickly affirmed in her belief that transitioning was the answer to her struggles.

“For years I just kept getting affirmed by the medical fraternity and the trans community for something I wasn’t”, she said.

“They kept telling me, ‘You’re non-binary, trans, maybe you’re non-binary’. I tried to pull away, but they kept pulling me back in… I never developed the discernment to say ‘this isn’t true’.”

Jefferies claims the trans community reinforced a climate of fear that pushed her toward transition.

“I was warped by the thinking that if I didn’t do this I was going to die.”

“They are in the grips of fear, and an us-versus-them culture. They tell you, ‘They hate you, you’re only safe with us’. It’s an intense pressure.”

Such messaging, she believes, led her to see transition not as a choice, but as a necessity for survival – a mindset that left her vulnerable to decisions she now regrets.

Physical and Psychological Harm

Jefferies’ statement of claim lists multiple permanent side effects of the testosterone treatment, including “deepened voice, hirsutism, clitoromegaly [a clitoris significantly larger than normal], vaginal pain/discomfort, abnormal body odour and acne, and pelvic floor dysfunction (as indicated by urinary incontinence).”

She alleges that rather than healing, the medical interventions worsened her condition – fuelling suicidal thoughts, repeated drug overdoses and psychiatric hospitalisations. Jefferies claims,

“I didn’t have the capacity to give consent – most of the time I was in transition I was going through crisis after crisis.”

Today, Jefferies is diagnosed with complex and chronic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is in partial remission from alcohol misuse disorder, and continues to suffer both physically and emotionally.

Yet, she plans to use her experiences to advocate for better mental health treatments. She states,

“I have been failed by our health system and the ‘informed consent’ approach to gender distress. My case should be clarion call to those who advocate for hormonal and surgical gender interventions for the mentally ill in Australia.”

Mason 2018 vs Melanie 2025

Choose life, not death. #detrans pic.twitter.com/kwmAj4UGod

— Mel Jefferies ✞ (@xmjefferies) February 11, 2025

Growing Global Scrutiny on Gender Transitioning

Jefferies’ case arrives amid growing international concern over “affirmation-only” models of care, particularly for minors and young adults. In the UK, US, Sweden, and Finland, national health bodies have significantly restricted gender interventions for youth, citing lack of evidence and concerns about long-term harm.

In Australia, this lawsuit could set a precedent for other cases where underlying mental health conditions have not been dutifully considered.

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Image via Mel Jefferies/X.