NHS England Announces Limited Prescription of Puberty Blockers for Children Attending Gender Identity Services

The NHS in England has announced that puberty blockers will only be prescribed to children attending gender identity services as part of clinical research.

This move comes after an interim report into children's gender services found "gaps in evidence" around the drugs.

Puberty blockers are used to "pause puberty" and work by suppressing hormone release.

The new clinics replacing the Gender Identity and Development Service (Gids) will only prescribe puberty blockers to children in the study, and no patients being treated by the current Gids service will be affected.

Children and their families will also be "strongly discouraged" from obtaining gender-affirming drugs such as hormones from "unregulated sources" or online providers.

The new service will take a holistic approach and focus on the needs of each child individually with "careful therapeutic exploration."