Puberty blocker

Puberty blockers (also called puberty inhibitors or hormone blockers) are medicines used to postpone puberty in children. The most commonly used puberty blockers are gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists, which suppress the natural production of sex hormones, such as androgens (e.g. testosterone) and estrogens (e.g. estradiol).^[1][2][3] Puberty blockers are used to delay puberty in children with precocious puberty. Since the 1990s, they are also used to delay the development of unwanted secondary sex characteristics in transgender children,^[4] so as to allow transgender youth more time to explore their gender identity^[5] under what became known as the "Dutch Protocol".^[6][7] They have been shown to reduce depression and suicidality in transgender and nonbinary youth.^[8][9][10] The same drugs are also used in fertility medicine and to treat some hormone-sensitive cancers in adults.^[11][12][13]

The use of puberty blockers is supported by the Endocrine Society^[14] and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH).^[15] In the United States, twelve major American medical associations, including the American Medical Association,^[16] the American Psychological Association,^[17] and the American Academy of Pediatrics support the use of puberty blockers.^[18] In Australia, four medical organizations support them.^[19] The United Kingdom has implemented a ban on prescribing puberty blockers to new patients under 18 for the treatment of gender dysphoria except for use in clinical research trials, as of May 2024.^[20]

In the 2020s, the provision of puberty blockers for gender dysphoria in children has become the subject of public controversy, with the United Kingdom stopping the routine prescription of puberty blockers^[21] and some states of the United States making their use a criminal offense.^[22][23]