by Michael Searles, Telegraph
Puberty blockers will be given to more than 200 young people, potentially as young as eight, who think they may be transgender
The NHS will prescribe banned puberty blockers in what parents have branded a “betrayal of children”.
The drugs will be given to more than 200 children, potentially as young as eight, who think they may be transgender, as part of a clinical trial.
Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, banned the drugs last year because of “unacceptable safety risks”, but they can still be administered as part of clinical trials for patients who meet certain criteria.
For the NHS trial, being run by King’s College London (KCL), children who show a “persisting desire” for the drugs and are deemed by gender doctors as standing a “reasonable prospect of benefit” could be eligible.
Children will be screened for neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism, but participants who are deemed to have such conditions will not be excluded from the trial.
While researchers running the trial acknowledged that children faced potential harm in their cognitive and sexual development, they claimed the risks of not prescribing the drugs could include depression and self-harm.
Scroll down to read A Conveyor Belt to Lifelong Harm by Keira Bell
Read also: New puberty blocker trial approved for children, but questions remain by Hannah Barnes, New Statesman
Together, Let’s Make Puberty Blockers History from CitizenGo