WE ACCEPT TEENAGERS TAKING THE PILL - WHY DON'T WE FEEL THE SAME ABOUT PUBERTY BLOCKERS?

Puberty blockers are a medication given to young people, as a part of gender-affirming care for trans young people. 

They are given to young people who’ve typically been diagnosed with what is called ‘gender dysphoria’ and are given once a certain stage in puberty has been reached, in order to prevent further physical changes that cause a patient anxiety. 

It prevents, for example, young trans girls from growing a beard and their voice dropping, or trans boys from growing bigger breasts and hips – which for cis people is a very normal part of growing up, but for many trans or non-binary people it is a source of severe distress.

Modern studies suggest that puberty blockers are incredibly useful when given under supervision of doctors, and shows clear signs that it increases the well-being of those who need it. 

And yet still, conservative voices in the UK and abroad are fighting against them, with worrying levels of success.

In my opinion, puberty blockers are in the same bracket as the contraceptive pill, entirely suitable for young people with proper medical supervision. 

Following political pressure, the NHS has announced plans to ban puberty blockers for young people under 18 outside of clinical research, after interim findings from the Cass Review, an independent report into gender-affirming care. 

I believe that not only will this leave young people and their families incredibly distressed, but many will be forced to seek services outside of the UK, in order to ensure their children feel safe.

People need to stop seeing gender affirming treatment for trans people as something scary, and realise that it’s just a form of treatment like any other

Politicians across the UK and some media platforms regularly cover the issue, but most often without the stories of those actually impacted. 

In my experiences, comments on puberty blockers rarely actually come after talking to the young people concerned.

Young people are also given similar hormonal medication under the NHS without moral panic, such as the pill.

Of course, in Britain, those under 16 generally can’t themselves consent to care without parental input, although there are some exceptions. 

That is why thousands of underage teenagers in the UK are taking the contraceptive pill, which can be prescribed without their parents’ involvement or knowledge. 

Young people use it to prevent pregnancy, or to manage symptoms of heavy periods.

Put simply, young people are having their quality of life improved by expert doctors giving them hormonal medication. 

And that is exactly what puberty blockers do – so why the outrage?  What is it about improving the quality of life for trans, intersex, or non-binary young people through treatment, which still requires parental and doctor approval, that has caused so much anger?

In my mind, there is no real reason as to why gender affirming care for young people should be seen as any more serious than giving them any other form of hormonal medication, such as the pill.

All puberty blockers do is pause the effects of puberty. 

And with very good reason.

The medication allows young people space to breathe and explore who they are, without their body changing in ways that could cause them deep distress and anxiety.

As a trans person that had to go through a large portion of my puberty, I cannot stress how upsetting it was. My body changing due to testosterone caused me deep seated trauma, and I would have given anything to stop it.

That’s why it’s so frustrating to see people make all sorts of inaccurate, misleading and quite frankly damaging claims about what they do.

Despite some of the scare stories you may have seen in parts of the media, puberty blockers *are* reversible. 

If a young person were to stop taking it, their puberty would kick in as normal.

Another long-standing myth that plays out on social media is that puberty blockers are taken exclusively by young trans people.

In fact, they were originally used as medication for children with precocious puberty – an early onset of development that can see, for example, girls younger than eight beginning periods. 

Hormonal medications called gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists (GnRHas), which are used as part of puberty blocking treatment, can also be given to people with endometriosis.

Another myth is that puberty blockers are inherently dangerous. Of course, as with the contraceptive pill, or indeed any medication we take, there are also some risks when taking puberty blockers. Potential side effects include loss of fertility, effects on bone growth and bone density and growth spurs. It is not known whether the use of the drugs by adolescents could affect their brain development.

But with all medications there are side effects, and we have to always consider whether the benefits outweigh the costs. 

And in providing gender-affirming care to young people, with all of these possible risks managed under the supervision of a doctor, we are materially benefiting their lives.

That’s why it’s so disheartening to see potential bans for young people accessing puberty blockers, and it continues to baffle me why this vital medication is seen any differently than young people taking other hormonal medication, such as the pill, that can improve their quality of life exponentially.

Gender affirming care is vital to ensuring the well-being of young trans people, just as other treatments like birth control are, and I wish we could move away from it being used as another front in the culture war.

Care for young people, no matter what it is, should be in the hands of young people, their families and their doctors. Anyone else’s opinion about it is, frankly, irrelevant. 

People need to stop seeing gender affirming treatment for trans people as something scary, and realise that it’s just a form of treatment like any other.  

Sadly, it seems the government will press ahead with their ban on providing puberty blockers to under-18s, and to me, that is just as cruel as denying young people access to birth control pills, or other hormonal medication.

If we care about the well-being of young people, whether cis or trans, it’s time to give them the care they need.

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2023-09-28T10:29:00Z dg43tfdfdgfd