NewsHub 28 March 2021
The mother of a transgender child says the sheer numbers of transgender children getting puberty blockers could end up as the biggest scandal in our medical history.
Like their name suggests, they’re taken to temporarily halt the onset of puberty, often by kids weighing up whether to transition from one gender to another.
But critics say the medical profession is far too ready to offer puberty blockers and they dispute the Ministry of Health’s claims they’re safe and reversible.
However one expert who works with transgender children says the drugs are actually lifesavers.
The Ministry of Health maintains puberty blockers are safe and reversible but its British counterpart the NHS doesn’t.
It says little is known about the long-term side effects, the psychological effects or how it affects the development of the teenage brain or children’s bones.
The issue even ended up in the UK courts, with the Tavistock court case, taken by 23-year-old Keira Bell, who’d de-transitioned. The court’s decision makes it more difficult for anyone under sixteen there to go on puberty blockers.
“I’m delighted at the judgement of the court today. It was a judgement that will protect vulnerable people, I wish it had been made for me before I embarked on the devastating experiment of puberty blockers,” Bell said following the verdict.
READ MORE: https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2021/03/controversy-brewing-over-transgender-children-s-access-to-puberty-blockers.html