Trans youth will no longer be prescribed puberty blockers at NHS England gender identity clinics in a “blow” to gender-affirming healthcare.

Trans youth will no longer be prescribed puberty blockers at NHS England gender identity clinics in a new “blow” to gender-affirming healthcare.

Puberty blockers are a type of medicine that prevent puberty from starting by blocking the hormones – like testosterone and oestrogen – that lead to puberty-related changes in the body. In the case of trans youth, this can delay unwanted physical changes like menstruation, breast growth, voice changes or facial hair growth.

On Tuesday (12 March), NHS England confirmed the medicine, which has been described as “life-saving” medical care for trans youth, will only be available to young people as part of clinical research trials.

The government described the move as a “landmark decision”, Sky News reported. It believed such a move is in the “best interests of the child”.

  • @throwwyaccEnglish
    5•3 months ago

    I believe the idea of a puberty blocker is to block puberty until 18 pretty much, or early 20s. Then as that person is an adult they can choose to transition, by going through hrt, which is more effective as they haven’t experienced any puberty yet Or they can choose to stop taking the blockers and go through puberty as they would have before

    • @[email protected]English
      2•3 months ago

      Thanks for that.
      Annoyingly though I’m getting down votes for expressing a sincerely-held and reasonable concern, so that prevents me from discussing it any further. This topic is unnecessarily toxic online.

      • @throwwyaccEnglish
        2•3 months ago

        I agree it’s a very charged topic. And tricky to talk about in a lot of circles without being hand waved as a bigot

        It’s understandable though as there are genuinely some people that wouldn’t change their opinion regardless of the research, on both sides mind you

        • @[email protected]English
          2•3 months ago

          It’s been a while since I deep dived on this so I will have to go back and have a look at what’s new when I have time.