A sensible move by Ministry of Health

The Ministry of Health announced:

The Ministry of Health is today releasing an evidence brief and position statement on the use of puberty blockers for gender identity issues and outlining a more cautious approach to their use.

The evidence brief shows a lack of good quality evidence to back the effectiveness and safety of puberty blockers when used for this purpose.

Their finding was:

Overall, the evidence brief found significant limitations in the quality of evidence for either the
benefits or risks (or lack thereof) of the use of puberty blockers. This means there is insufficient basis
to say that puberty blockers are safe or reversible (or not) for use as an intervention for gender
dysphoria in adolescents.

Their position on use now is:

Noting that the Government has signalled an intent to consider regulating puberty blocker
prescribing in gender-affirming care, clinicians should exercise caution in prescribing.
Clinicians who initiate puberty blockers should be experienced in providing gender-affirming
care and be part of an interprofessional team offering a full range of supports to young
people presenting with gender-related issues.

Back in early 2023 I blogged:

I do think people aged under 18 who are firm about wanting to change their gender identity should generally be able to start treatment before they are 18, but decisions on individual cases should reflect the individual circumstances, and not just be treated as an automatic yes.

The two major factors are the age of the young person, and the severity of the treatment. The younger someone is, the more caution you should apply to starting treatment. A 12 year old is not the same as a 17 year old.

Also taking hormone blockers is different to having sex change surgery.

The problem is that in many countries, it was an automatic “yes” to every gender dysphoric child, and in fact staff who raised concerns were shunned and pushed out. Some of the stories from the UK and US were horrifying.

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