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] In addition to their use in treating precocious puberty, which involves puberty occurring at an unusually early age (and sometimes idiopathic short stature) in children, puberty blockers are also used for transgender children to delay the development of unwanted sex characteristics,^[4] so as to allow transgender youth more time to explore their gender identity.^[5]

The use of puberty blockers in transgender youth is supported by twelve major American medical associations, including the American Medical Association,^[6] the American Psychological Association,^[7] the American Academy of Pediatrics,^[8] along with four Australian medical organizations,^[9] the Endocrine Society,^[10] the European Society for Sexual Medicine,^[11]:573 and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH).^[12]

As of 2024^[update], the provision of puberty blockers for gender dysphoria in children has become the subject of public controversy. A combination of shifts in public opinion, political lobbying,^{[citation needed]} and scepticism from some in the field of medicine has led to the rolling back of the use of puberty blockers for transgender children in several countries, with results ranging from some health systems stopping the routine use of puberty blockers until higher-quality research evidence is available,^[13] to the provision of puberty blockers to children being made a criminal offence in some states of the United States.^[14][15]