United Kingdom: The National Health Service (NHS) in England has executed a review, which found that long-term gender care for youth is quite weak. Some doctors were observed departing from standard clinical approaches and prescribing hormones to teenagers.
The study stated that the long-term health effects of feminising and masculinising hormones on teenagers are not well understood and need to be researched further. As a result, such interventions should only be used with the utmost caution.
Puberty blockers are medicines that are given to pre-teens to delay puberty. However, a four-year review led by Hilary Cass, a paediatrician at St Thomas Hospital in London, uncovered that they do not relieve gender dysphoria or improve ‘body satisfaction.’
Furthermore, the evidence about their effects on psychological well-being, mental growth and fertility was inconsistent. The review also concluded that there was no proof that puberty blockers ‘buy time to think’ since most young people then proceed to hormone treatment.
The review depended on research of evidence conducted by the University of York, which studied existing procedures for managing gender dysphoria and the results of dozens of analyses on hormones and puberty blockers. Hilary Cass noted that in the field of gender care for children, doctors were more willing to implement new research findings than in other emerging areas of medicine.
“Based on a single Dutch study, which suggested that puberty blockers may improve psychological well-being for a narrowly defined group of children with gender incongruence, the practice spread at pace to other countries,” Cass stated in the report.
“This was closely followed by a greater readiness to start masculinising/feminising hormones in mid-teens, and the extension of this approach to a wider group of adolescents who would not have met the inclusion criteria for the original Dutch Study. Some practitioners abandoned normal clinical approaches to holistic assessment, which has meant that this group of young people have been exceptionalised compared to other young people with similarly complex presentations. They deserve very much better,” Cass added.
The review team chief expressed concern about the toxicity of public debates around transgender and gender-questioning youth. Professionals are afraid to openly discuss their views, and studies are exaggerated or misrepresented on all sides despite weak evidence. Cass emphasised that the review was not meant to undermine the validity of transgender identities or healthcare rights, but to help children and young people seeking support from the NHS regarding their gender identity.
The National Health Service conducted a review in 2020 due to a rise in young people questioning their gender identity. Last month, the NHS declared it would no longer prescribe puberty blockers for children outside of clinical research trials. The UK’s first gender identity clinic for children, operated by the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, closed last month amid criticism of rushing minors into changing their gender.
POPULAR | Kentucky & West Virginia to restrict healthcare for transgender youth
