The clinic, which currently treats children with gender dysphoria, is scheduled to close in March next year. The National Health Service (NHS) in England has announced that puberty blockers will no longer be prescribed to children and adolescents attending gender identity clinics and will only be used in clinical trials.
This decision was made after the Children’s Gender Services concluded that the health effects of these drugs had not been adequately researched. In addition, problems identified in the activities of the Tavistock Clinic, which deals with children and young people with gender identity issues, served as a catalyst for reform.
Puberty blockers are used to stop sexual maturation in teenagers, suppress hormone production, and are often the first step toward gender reassignment surgery. Dr. Hillary Cass’ report calls for a change in approach to children who experience gender dysphoria – the discrepancy between one’s gender identity and the sex assigned at birth.
Currently, if a child seeks medical attention for this reason, medications are one of the options to delay the onset of physical changes that do not match the child’s stated gender identity. However, doctors have long expressed concerns about the use of blockers, which can cause irreversible damage to a teen’s health during puberty and whose long-term effects are poorly understood.
The change will take effect when new clinics open at the end of the year to replace the Tavistock clinic, which was also called the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) at the time. Children and their families are also strongly discouraged from purchasing sexual enhancement drugs, such as hormones, from unregulated sources or through online stores.
The clinical trial, which will be conducted by the new Council for Research and Supervision of Gender Dysphoria in Children and Adolescents, will comprehensively investigate the influence of medications that delay sexual maturation. More details on the study will be released in the coming weeks.
Sexual maturation blockers will only be prescribed to adolescents enrolled in the study or in exceptional circumstances considered on a case-by-case basis. According to Gids, in their randomly selected sample of 312 patients, 47 people received hormone blockers in one year. We explain quickly, simply, and clearly what happened, why it matters, and what will happen next. эпизоды – Episodes End of story. Podcast Advertising.
In particular, a representative of the NHS stated: “The National Health Service is currently working on a proposal to remove puberty blockers from unrestricted access and use them for research purposes only. We will be conducting a study on the impact of puberty blockers on gender dysphoria in children and young people with early-onset gender dysphoria, which we plan to launch in 2024”.
Last year, more than 5,000 young people signed up for a consultation on the new service. The new program will be implemented in the fall, when the first of the new clinics in partnership with children’s hospitals opens in the south of England. The current Gids service, run by the Tavistock and Portman Trust, is due to close in March 2024.
An independent review conducted by Dr. Cass found a number of problems with the service, and a new system for dealing with gender dysphoria is being introduced. Dr. Cass noted that many children referred to Gids have difficulties unrelated to gender dysphoria that are sometimes overlooked, such as autism. The NHS also states that a significant proportion of transitioning adolescents experience other difficulties related to nervous system development, family or social circumstances that the adolescent may experience as gender dysphoria.
Some of these issues may resolve naturally as a result of sexual maturation. The number of offerings should remain the same. The new service will use a new comprehensive approach that focuses on the needs of each child individually, with a thorough therapeutic evaluation. Now, in order to get a prescription for sexual maturation blockers on the NHS, a patient must first undergo an assessment at GIDS and receive a referral to an endocrinologist. Currently, more than 7,000 young people under the age of 18 are waiting for their first appointment. The estimated waiting time is more than three and a half years.