An outspoken author has blamed 'aggressive schools and Twitter culture' for leaving 'open-minded parents' too scared to question their children declaring themselves as transgender at a young age.

Writer Abigail Shrier, from LA, recently released a book titled 'Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters', in which she explores gender dysphoria.

Sharing her concern that the decision to take puberty blockers is often taken too lightly, she appeared on womens' rights campaigner Kellie-Jay Keen's Woman By Definition's podcast.

Speaking about the children who are most likely to transition, she said: 'I think this seems to be in prominent in politically progressive communities, partly because their schools tend to be more aggressive on the gender ideology, so they're getting pushed culturally. 

'One of the cruel reasons this has hit progressive families so hard, is because they were genuinely so open-minded and supportive, and it really got turned against them.

'It was because they sometimes weren't willing to put their foot down and say, "No you're not starting testosterone".'