Puberty blockers explained, as UK court rules on trans children

Contested medical treatment for children seeking to transition gender is back in the spotlight, after a British court ruling reawakened global debate about the merits of puberty-blocking drugs.

The Court of Appeal for England and Wales said it was up to doctors, not courts, to decide if a child under 16 was capable of consenting to drugs that pause puberty.

The ruling comes after a US federal judge in July suspended a landmark Arkansas state law that would have banned doctors from providing puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones or gender transition surgeries to minors.

So, what do puberty blockers do and why are they so controversial?

WHAT DO THE BLOCKERS DO?

Puberty blockers are used to delay the onset of puberty or stop a child’s body maturing to become sexually reproductive, according to U.S. academic medical centre Mayo Clinic.

They act as hormone-obstructing agents, administered by injection or implants, that hinder the signs of puberty, such as the growth of facial hair and testes or breast tissue growth and the onset of menstruation.

WHO USES THEM?

Puberty blockers have been used for decades to treat precocious puberty, a rare condition in which a child’s body matures early, usually before they turn eight.

More recently, doctors have prescribed puberty blockers for children who are experiencing gender dysphoria, a discomfort that their gender identity does not match their body, to delay physical changes.

“It’s to stop the clock,” Joshua Safer, executive director of the Mount Sinai Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“The entire point is to allow the child and the parents and the medical providers time to think about what is most logical for that individual.”

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