Amnesty International UK and Liberty joint statement on puberty blockers
Joint statement following High Court ruling that children under 16 are unlikely to be able to give informed consent to undergo treatment with puberty-blocking drug
Amnesty International UK and Liberty are disappointed to see the High Court’s judgment on the use of puberty blockers. We are concerned not only for what this means for the health and well-being of trans young people, but the wider implications this will have on the rights of children and young people of all genders, particularly on consent and bodily autonomy.
Puberty blockers have been a reversible intervention used for decades to pause precocious puberty. Young trans people have been able to access puberty blockers under medical supervision since the late 1990s as a way to put on hold the physical changes of puberty, alleviate gender dysphoria and allow young trans people to flourish as their full selves. For many young trans people, or those questioning and exploring their gender identity, puberty blockers allow more time to make important decisions. For those who decide to fully transition, puberty blockers allow them to live in the correct gender as adults much more easily, by avoiding physical changes that are very difficult to reverse.
Puberty blockers are a separate treatment from cross-sex hormones and surgery which cannot be accessed until 16 and 18 years of age respectively and there is no obligation to move on to further treatment even if a young person has accessed puberty blockers.
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