Puberty blockers were first used for transgender health in 1988. The adolescents who received them, in the Netherlands, are now in their mid 40's and doing great according to over 20 years of follow up studies. This treatment is not experimental it is evidenced best practice.
More here about 'Bram' one of the Dutch 13 year olds who received treatment in 1988:
One of the referenced papers is available here link.springer.com/article/10.100…
In the UK, puberty blockers were being used from early to mid 1990s before foundation of GIDs when protocols were adopted restricting use for under 16s. It wasn't until 2011 that blocker use was brought back on a 'stage not age' basis, that is, prescribed at onset of adolescence.
This followed international trans health conferences & a medico legal ethics review. Simona Giordano concluded "Omitting to treat, or deferring treatment, is not a morally neutral option". Giordano in April published a follow up addressing media claims blockers are 'experimental'
Giordano writes “Puberty blockers are not ‘novel' treatment. They were recommended by prominent bodies of medical opinion in the UK & internationally over two decades ago, & have thus been part of standard medical treatment for many years." Citing 21 academic studies on efficacy.
Paper available here: Is puberty delaying treatment ‘experimental treatment’?, Giordano & Holm, 2020, tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.10…
TLDR - no they aren't experimental treatment.
TLDR - no they aren't experimental treatment.
If you want to learn more about the 2008 conference organised by Richard Green, can I recommend @christineburns podcast "Trans Kids on the Block" in which she interviews many of the speakers podcast.plain-sense.co.uk/e/trans-kids-o…
This is doing silly numbers now. I'll be back tomorrow with a thread on history of HRT for trans youth. Meantime, please do donate to your local trans & LGBT youth support orgs. If in the UK @aktcharity, @Mermaids_Gender & @Genderintell do amazing work. akt.org.uk/donate/donate/5
