Am I unreasonable to be pleased that Puberty Blockers have been banned by the executive in Northern Ireland with unanimous cross-party support

Does everything these days have to be so "for" or "against". Both of these statements are largely true, but contradictory, 1. children were harmed because professionals and peer pressure made trans cool. 2. Children with genuine dysphoria are being denied treatment. The reality is way less certain. Is it so difficult to have proper unbiased assessment to find the best way forward for each individual, based on their needs. Agendas and politics on both sides shout loud but ignore the needs of vulnerable children caught in the crossfire.

I think so.

The HSE has referred patients to Belgian / Dutch clinics I believe, but honestly, I think they'll be much more circumspect about what they do with the UK coming down so forcefully.

And because Ireland used British gender clinics, I presume it's pretty much banned here too.

Good news.

And the announcement has just been made that PBs will be blocked across the whole uk. Excellent news!

It’s very heartening that people will put their political differences aside on such a massive issue as protecting children from medical experimentation and exploitation. Very good news.

Not to mention that since the Tavistock failed to keep proper records, not only of the initial diagnosis, but of follow ups to gauge the effect of what happened to their victims, and I use that word deliberately, incredibly valuable evidence as to the use of PB in pre and barely adolescent children, especially in their use in young girls, was lost or ignored, meaning that hundreds of girls were wrongly diagnosed, advised and then hung out to dry. It is hard to imagine another situation where children have been routinely drugged without basic clinical standards being met .

Agreed. There is so much harm being done. Sterilisation, teenagers having double mastectomies etc . It's horrific and needs to stop.

The Cass Review showed that what doctors were doing at the Tavistock - prescribing puberty blockers to children - was being done with remarkably little evidence. Doctors get things wrong, and in the case of treatment for gender distressed children appear to have got it catastrophically wrong. Puberty blockers were being prescribed to block normal puberty in children, a use for which they had never been tested. Like you I am inclined to trust that 'the experts' know what they're doing but increasing numbers of appalling cases of detransitioners show that doctors have been using unevidenced treatments which change a child's physical body to treat adolescent mental distress. At this point politicians have to step in and call a halt.

But you were prescribed them to deal with a distressing and very real medical problem. Prescribing them for something which might be more related to what is going on in someone’s head, or their anxious feelings about their sexuality, or because they have been influenced by social media is another issue. Nor were your PB prescribed as the precursor to you being offered a lifetime of testosterone or oestrogen and including in the package irreversible surgeries, infertility , osteoporosis and heart disease.

I am pleased your treatment was successful, but please don’t confuse your treatment with the mutilation of young vulnerable children.

You said you don't care. So - why comment at all?

@GargoylesofBeelzebub I suspect many of the people on this thread have yet to scratch the surface of the horrors of what has been done to children and young adults in the name of "gender affirming care".

Those of you saying that we should leave it up to the doctors clearly aren't aware that some of the doctors involved in gender medicine clearly have a bias that prevents them from being objective.

www.nytimes.com/2024/10/23/science/puberty-blockers-olson-kennedy.html

Even to the extent of suppressing studies that show what they are doing is harmful.

Nobody is querying the use of delaying a puberty with precocious onset and then allowing puberty to continue at the appropriate age and stage.

Whilst there are still risks associated with their use in these cases, those risks are lesser than the health risks of allowing a precocious puberty to continue in a 6 year old for example. Ie the side effects of the medication are less harmful than a puberty that happens years too early.

I'm very concerned that due to the furore over prescribing for otherwise healthy youngsters, those who need them will not have access

You need not be concerned, as Wes Streeting has specifically said that such medication will be available for cases of precocious puberty.

Mr Streeting said clinicians can prescribe blockers to children who begin puberty too early because this has been “extensively tested”, and added: “This is different to stopping the normal surge of hormones that occur in puberty. This affects children’s psychological and brain development.
“We don’t yet know the risks of stopping pubertal hormones at this critical life stage.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/wes-streeting-puberty-blockers-ban-transgender-b2579918.html

You still went through puberty. If a child is put on puberty blockers and then cross sex hormones they never go through puberty which is a vital developmental stage. This can affect fertility, development of sexual organs, brain development and bone density. It's tragic that these drugs were implemented for gender questioning children. I'm very glad that you were left with no ill effects from taking them.

The medical profession have made significant errors over the years. The idea that they don't need a degree of societal oversight is shocking

No, using them for an actual medical condition is one thing. Experimenting on confused kids is quite a different ball game