Pink News saying puberty blockers are “well studied, safe and completely reversible”?

[Slythermum]

www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/11/10/tory-mp-miriam-cates-house-of-commons/

In an article about Miriam Cates MP, Pink News say this:

"A recent high court ruling found that trans youth are perfectly capable of consenting to puberty blockers, which are an internationally recognised best-practice treatment for gender dysphoria in young people.

The medication is “well studied, safe and completely reversible” and simply delays puberty until a trans teenager is old enough to make decisions about having gender-affirming medical treatment."

They are quoting a Boston based doctor from this interview theconversation.com/im-a-pediatrician-who-cares-for-transgender-kids-heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-social-support-puberty-blockers-and-other-medical-options-that-improve-lives-of-transgender-youth-157285

Isn't this conflicting with what the NHS says which is that:

"Little is known about the long-term side effects of hormone or puberty blockers in children with gender dysphoria.

Although GIDS advises this is a physically reversible treatment if stopped, it is not known what the psychological effects may be.

It's also not known whether hormone blockers affect the development of the teenage brain or children's bones. Side effects may also include hot flushes, fatigue and mood alterations."

www.nhs.uk/conditions/gender-dysphoria/treatment/

@Thefartingsofaofdenmarkstreet

The medication is “well studied, safe and completely reversible” and simply delays puberty until a trans teenager is old enough to make decisions about having gender-affirming medical treatment."

The thing is, if puberty blockers stop your brain as well as your body from going through the developmental changes of puberty, then you don't 'become old enough' to make these decisions, because your brain hasn't gone through that maturation process.

Exactly. This is a hugely important point.

I don't suppose PN belongs to IPSO, does it?

Why I sued PinkNews
unherd.com/2021/11/why-i-sued-pinknews/

I don't suppose PN belongs to IPSO, does it?

No it doesn't and iPSO don't give advice on what to do in this case but say you can call for advice
www.ipso.co.uk/complain/

Having read a bit more of the blue book I linked above, it appears to meet the broad catagory of 'advertisement' (which includes magazine articles) which is prohibited for prescription drugs even if it what was said was correct and if these drugs were licensed for this use. As such a complaint needs to be made to MHRA. It looks like breaches can be a criminal matter as well as a civil one (depending)

Does anyone know - would parental consent be needed for a child to be put on puberty blockers? School seem to be affirming and enabling, without my knowledge or involvement so far.

Feel I need to arm myself, in case it gets to that. Thanks x

Am in Uk, btw :)

Note the use of 'trans youth' to avoid the word children.

Youth is being used this way now.

Sorry to hear that, @DoubleTweenQueen. I am not an expert but this is what I think is the position. You would get good advice from Transgender Trend and the Bayswater Parents group.

If your child is deemed to have Gillick competence, they could consent to necessary medical treatment without your consent. Are puberty blockers 'necessary'? Arguable. Keira Bell's case would have made it necessary for the Tavistock GIDS clinic to get court approval for every under 16 prescribed puberty blockers. She won the first stage, but it was overturned on appeal. She's going to the Supreme Court now.

I don't believe a UK GP would prescribe blockers on the NHS. An endocrinologist should be involved. Private doctors might, but I can't imagine any UK school would facilitate that without reference to parents. Who would pay?

Waiting lists on the NHS are so long that I don't think you'd have much to worry about there, anyway.

Good luck.

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g Thanks x

@DoubleTweenQueen

Does anyone know - would parental consent be needed for a child to be put on puberty blockers? School seem to be affirming and enabling, without my knowledge or involvement so far.

Feel I need to arm myself, in case it gets to that. Thanks x

GIDS require consent for puberty blockers from at least one parent as well as the child.

The medication is “well studied, safe and completely reversible”

No they aren’t. If Pink News cared about trans people and didn’t just hate women they would be campaigning for more research.

The medication has various uses including treatment of precocious puberty and treatment of endometriosis, and in both cases there are ongoing cases against the manufacturers because of side effects. And that’s before you get into whether it’s possible to stop and start puberty.

As it is the people who use them as puberty blockers are just treated as collateral damage.

Oh ffs.

It wouldn't even matter if they were reversible because 98/99 percent of kids who take them go onto hormones after.

And those are not reversible either.

Of they cares about trans kids they'd want this properly looked into and not just yell transphobe at anyone who is watery of giving toxic cancer treatment medication to kids witg healthy bodies

FFS anyone who had to take anything that alters natural level of
hormones or had issues with hormonal system (contraception pills, thyroid problems) knows that this is bullshit. It's been 60 years since the first contraceptive pill was made available, and they still cannot get it right so everyone can take it (some have no issues but there is still a lot of people who cannot take it). The idea we can just 'pause' such a complex process like puberty with no issues whatsoever is just naive to me.

“@Thefartingsiddenmarkstreet
The thing is, if puberty blockers stop your brain as well as your body from going through the developmental changes of puberty, then you don't 'become old enough' to make these decisions, because your brain hasn't gone through that maturation process.“

I am sure you are right. I know from reading about puppies who are neutered before they have matured that they lose various physical protections, and also never quite mature mentally.
(I spite if this must are neutered too soon.)

rockysretreat.com/early-spay-neuter/

What sort of person thinks that it's a good idea to pause puberty in children, which means that they wil age chronologically but still have the bodies and brains of children?

We need to think carefully about the possible motivations of non-trans people who are promoting this treatment.

@eurochick Testosterone - is that really a treatment for pcos? well I’ve had PCOS for many decades and it’s NEVER been suggested and in fact quite the opposite is true in that women with PCOS often have too much testosterone.

I’m curious, how would you all react if they were found to be safe?

Surely if they give a child a breathing space to get its head into a better space then that is a good thing, right!

Or are you against them on principle?

Of they cares about trans kids they'd want this properly looked into and not just yell transphobe at anyone who is watery of giving toxic cancer treatment medication to kids witg healthy bodies

Why would they care about kids??

They're an online magazine - they care about clicks and retweets. That's it.

They don't give a shit who buys what or who does what, as long as they make money out of it through talking about it. When the winds change and interfering with children's puberty isn't fashionable any more, they'll make their money from vilifying the same people they're quoting as experts now.

Pink News aren't the problem as they're effectively a blogging site (assuming they're not subject to journalistic principles of accuracy, etc?) - it's the governmental departments with duties of care to these children who should be held to account.

Pink News is actually helpful as it shines a light on the worrying things that medical practitioners are saying when they're among supporters of pathologising gender identity.

@Mybalconyiscracking

I’m curious, how would you all react if they were found to be safe?

Surely if they give a child a breathing space to get its head into a better space then that is a good thing, right!

Or are you against them on principle?

If they were entered into a gold/platinum standard longitudinal, multi cohort research study on kids of 14 years+ then we could have that discussion once the results had been thoroughly analysed. Of course that cannot happen because what we do know about the drugs is that they cause irreparable harm.

So they haven't been researched that way. They have been used on younger kids who have a specific disorder, a specific need. Used differently, with a different end result in mind.

If they did what Pink News insists, with no supporting evidence, then there would be little outcry. Not least because they would be being used in an informed manner, licensed for the specific use with specific guidlenies and end results in mind.

But all we do know comes from those who desist and find themselves in an unalterable state of being. And the drugs don't remove the feelings of discomfort, suicidal ideation.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-51806011

www.persuasion.community/p/keira-bell-my-story

You may be working from the premise, much touted by many TRAs, that gender critical women object to the very existence of transgender individuals. This simply isn't true, it's just a handy stick with which to beat us.

We are not anti trans.

We are pro women and kids.

@Mybalconyiscracking

I’m curious, how would you all react if they were found to be safe?

Surely if they give a child a breathing space to get its head into a better space then that is a good thing, right!

Or are you against them on principle?

Why do you think many of us are objecting to puberty blockers?

Why do you think they are safe?

What would convince you that they are not safe?

How do you think this breathing space works?

What does this mean, to get a child's head into a better space?

@Mybalconyiscracking

I’m curious, how would you all react if they were found to be safe?

Surely if they give a child a breathing space to get its head into a better space then that is a good thing, right!

Or are you against them on principle?

No, I’m not against them in principle.

However, there are ethical questions about how they can be tested on children.

These should be acknowledged, not down played.

I’m curious, how would you all react if they were found to be safe

You seem to think they are safe. Evidence shows that they are not. I'm curious to know how you would react in the knowledge that they are not safe.

You also have to acknowledge that current indications are that the medication currently prescribed is not ‘safe’, and for some has life limiting side effects.

Obviously people will argue that gender dysphoria is life limiting, but arguing that on balance puberty blockers are the better option for some is very far from claiming that they are safe and the effects are reversible.

I’m curious, how would you all react if they were found to be safe?

"Safe" isn't sufficient. You actually have to have a benefit that outweighs the cost. The cost is delaying development - even if you can delay development "safely", how do you ethically justify that?

You need to point to a clear benefit, and there seems to be none.

There are many things we could "safely" do to a child that we do not do.

Surely if they give a child a breathing space to get its head into a better space then that is a good thing, right!

There seems to be fairly solid evidence that they actively prevent a child "getting its head into a better space" - the rate of resolution of gender dysphoria is much higher without puberty blockers.