Under 18s in Wales won't be prescribed puberty blockers, says Welsh Government

Under 18s in Wales will not be prescribed puberty blockers moving forward following a huge review of gender services. The Welsh Government confirmed the step following the publication of the Cass Review, which looked at gender services in England.

The Cass Review was published earlier this month and raised concerns about the treatment that children were accessing at gender clinics in the UK. One of these concerns was the prescription of puberty blockers.

In Wales, NHS Wales commissions NHS England to provide gender identity services for children and those under the age of 17. NHS England announced last month that children will no longer be prescribed puberty blockers. Therefore, puberty suppressing hormones will not be available as a routine commissioning treatment option for children and young people in Wales.

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However, those already on puberty blockers are not affected by this change, and the decision whether to stop taking them will be up to the individual to discuss with their doctor and family. NHS England plans to have a trial into the use of puberty blockers up and running by December 2024.

Puberty blockers have long been used for children who start puberty early, but have been used since the 1990s for children with gender dysphoria, as a way of buying them "thinking time". As part of the Cass review, the University of York looked into research papers on puberty blockers to see what the evidence shows.

The report described how there was a lack of evidence that puberty blockers support the mental health of children and adolescents with gender dysphoria. In addition to that, the team at York found there was little evidence that there was any benefit to help transgender males make a transition later in life by taking the puberty blockers. And the benefits of preventing a deep voice from developing and facial hair for transgender females had to be weighed up against the need for penile growth, which would support a vaginoplasty if the person was to opt for it.

According to the BBC, fewer than 100 people in England were on puberty blockers at the time the announcement was made. For the latest health and Covid news, sign up to our newsletter here

Dr Hilary Cass, the paediatrician that led the review believes the NHS now has a challenge to build trust from young trasngender people, and ask those who are of the right age to get involved in studies into gender affirming treatments to ensure that the community has the highest quality of evidence for care moving forward.