The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) has approved two clinical trials to study the effects of puberty blockers on children, involving up to 226 participants, with some as young as 10 years old.
The trials, set to begin recruitment in early 2025, aim to “gather evidence” on the impacts of these drugs after a ban on their routine NHS prescription earlier this year.
The Daily Mail reports:
They will be injected with the drugs to examine whether they could safely be used in future to help young people change their bodies and become more like the gender they self-identify as, rather than their gender at birth.
Researchers dismissed accusations that the trial could amount to ‘coercing’ children into taking the drugs, which potentially damage fertility, bone density and brain development.
They insisted it would be safe because they have planned the ‘most rigorous and safest study design’ which will involve ‘close monitoring’ of any potential side-effects and risks.
But campaigners branded the study’s launch ‘outrageous’, saying it should be halted.
The primary trial, led by King’s College London and the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, will divide participants into two groups: one receiving puberty blockers immediately for two years, and the other delayed by one year.
Children must be under 16, have a formal diagnosis of “gender incongruence,” and obtain parental consent.
“The youngest patients in the study, being led by researchers at King’s College London, will typically be ten to 11 years old for girls and 11 to 12 years old for boys. The maximum age will be 15 years and eleven months,” the Daily Mail reports.
The drugs, such as Triptorelin, administered via injection every six months, will be monitored for side effects.
A second, smaller trial with about 100 participants will focus on potential brain development effects by comparing blocked and unblocked groups.
These studies follow the 2024 Cass Review, an independent report commissioned by NHS England that criticized the lack of high-quality evidence supporting the use of puberty blockers and led to their prohibition outside research settings.
The review highlighted risks to bone density, fertility, and mental health from prior use at the Tavistock clinic’s Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS).
The trials are part of a £10.7 million NHS-funded research program. Results are expected in about four years.
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