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”.

    • MetaCubed@lemmy.worldEnglish
      112·
      7 months ago

      I guess ill be the one to bite.

      How do you consider this good news? All scientific literature indicates that prescribing puberty blockers to trans youth has a large benefit to the state of their current and future mental health, while also causing no harm as once they stop taking them, if they dont further transition, their regular puberty takes over with no decrease in how much they mentally and physically develop (dont forget, these are also regularly prescribed to cis kids too)

      • Shotgun_Alice@lemmy.worldEnglish
        71·
        7 months ago

        They’re a troll, I’ve seen their account in other threads. If you look at their account they have all down votes. Like they’re trying to collect as many downvotes as they can.

      • Gigan@lemmy.worldEnglish
        87·
        7 months ago

        Please link to all relevant scientific literature. Otherwise I’m going to assume you’re just spouting talking points out of your ass because this stuff hasn’t been studied as extensively as you claim.

          • Tattorack@lemmy.worldEnglish
            0·
            7 months ago

            The person who makes the claim is responsible for backing it up. So yes, if you’re going to make a going you’re going to do all the research.

            Asking for the relevant scientific backing is a perfectly reasonable thing to ask.

      • crapwittyname@lemm.eeEnglish
        24·
        7 months ago

        The second part of what you say (puberty takes over as soon as the blockers are stopped) is not, as far as I’m aware, established. There are huge questions over this. First off, if I decide to come off puberty blockers aged 30, will I then go through puberty? If so, how different will it be to a normal puberty? If not, how long do I take puberty blockers for until I’ve bypassed my puberty? Can we quantify or qualify the potential harms inherent in the treatment? There’re too many unknowns and not enough evidence to support this statement you’ve made. I’ve seen it made before which is why I looked into it.
        I’m not trans myself, but some of the people I love are/were. I love them and I want them to thrive, which is why I’m concerned about the enthusiasm for a seemingly magic bullet which I think has the potential to do a lot of harm if applied without being properly understood.

        • throwwyacc@lemmynsfw.comEnglish
          4·
          7 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