Children as guinea pigs

Children who went through the GIDS service were 10 times more likely to have a parent who was a sex offender, so it seems like at least some of the parents who will do that may be motivated by keeping the child prepubertal for their own reasons

I don't understand why this is even needed?

Isn't there enough data from a) the children already experimented on, b) those that had puberty blockers for precocious puberty reasons? I'm sure Lupron (?) had a court case brought against the pharmaceutical company besides it caused osteoporosis in some young women?

This is despicable.

Children do take part in medical research, where there is no alternative and generally where whatever is tested has first been tested in other ways first. Something that aims to stop physical, emotional and cognitive development is very different from other trials though. Development is such a cascade of complex interconnected biochemical processes, I can’t see how we know enough to do this without risk of significant harm.

Also, a well-designed follow up study of people who previously had puberty blockers would give much better information, and more ethically. If there were any good outcomes you would think previous puberty blocker prescribers would want this info to be known. Any organisation that blocks access to relevant data should have public funding cut off, and any individual should be struck off by their professional body.

I am so saddened to read of this trial, heartbreaking that children think that their beautiful unique selves are not good enough and that their body is wrong, heartbreaking that they do not get clear and kind support through the challenges of puberty, heartbreaking that adults who should care for them might consent to stopping their development . Appalling that researchers are earning money and aiming for academic esteem from this work when their skills are needed for other constructive research; they should really examine their consciences and ask themselves if they’d put their own children in the trial .

Does anyone know what puberty blockers actually are? Is it like taking testosterone or estrogen, or something else?

The Finnish review found limited evidence of psychological benefits, with one study showing no significant long-term difference in psychosocial functioning between those who received puberty blockers plus therapy versus those who received only therapy.

So why risk all the side effects from puberty blockers when there has been shown to be no psychological benefit to taking them

4 principles of clinical ethics: beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy, and justice.

Massive fail on the first two at least.

I have no skin in this game, but I’m pretty sure no systematic review has “demonstrated the opposite” (i.e. shown puberty blockers to harm mental health).

There are still so many conditions that we don't fully understand but where medication is used when other options haven't worked, in the hope that the benefits outweigh the harm and can get a young person through the crisis point that puberty often causes.

The use of puberty blockers doesn't help a child get through puberty because it prevents the child going through puberty.

The use of puberty blockers was introduced purely so adults could pass better as the opposite sex. Adult men were unhappy that they didn't pass as women so the Dutch proposed solution was to prevent boys going through puberty.

You could argue that severely dysphoric children aren't 'healthy' children, not in a holistic way that includes mental/ psychological / social wellbeing.

We already use a range of medicines, that we don't fully understand the long term effects of in 'healthy' children, who are deeply unhappy or who display challenging behaviours, or present with psychosis, struggle due to neurodivergence etc. (antidepressants, anxiolytics, stimulants, sedatives, antipsychotics, melatonin etc). We know some of those have long term harms and we suspect many may have long term effects on a developing brain.

There are still so many conditions that we don't fully understand but where medication is used when other options haven't worked, in the hope that the benefits outweigh the harm and can get a young person through the crisis point that puberty often causes.

And @Ihatetomatoes I absolutely agree, what causes the 'condition' is likely multifaceted/ multifunctional and so any research into it needs to address all those questions, not just search for a pharmacological 'cure' in isolation.

Do you think it’s a good idea always to give kids what they think they want?

They aren’t random kids. They are kids that want puberty blockers.

The harmful side effects of using puberty blockers for children with precocious puberty are already known and this is when they're used for a shorter period than when used for gender reasons.

Yes. It’s on a par with saying “palliative care is poor so let’s kill patients instead”.

Puberty blockers already are used for certain medical conditions such as entering puberty very early. This is not a safety trial, this will be a case of looking at whether delaying puberty for certain individuals who already are struggling (not getting into why) at 10 years old. These will be very exceptional cases. I haven’t looked at the trial details but they will be scientifically looking at using these existing drugs in this way whereas they were used off licence in the past.

if you have ever met a child with gender dysphoria you will understand that this is real, but it’s also very rare. We have a relative who was 16 when he transitioned (f to m) but was expressing a desire to be a boy at 3 years old despite the fact they hadn’t even invented social media, it wasn’t mainstream etc. it is real.

we do need carefully constructed trials, burying heads in the sand will not work, we tried that regarding gay people in the past

Presumably they’re going to check the chromosomes of the children first à la “how can I know what I am when I haven’t had my chromosomes checked?”

Yes, I’m looking at you, Isla Bumba and Kirsty Blackman.

They should use the £10million that this trial will cost to provide better mental heath support to children

There should be, but there isn't.

So parents are left with a choice of not having any help, or getting help that will probably stop short term harm but may cause long term harm.

It's not a choice any parent should have to make.

There's no other help though.

That's the problem.

If your kid is suffering, and a professional offers a possible solution, it's difficult to say no.

The system needs a massive overhaul.