Last month, England sent shockwaves around the world when its National Health Service (NHS) announced that children will no longer be prescribed puberty blockers, which Townhall covered. This bold move came after Dr. Hilary Cass, a pediatrician, published a review into the support and treatment offered to children who think they’re born with the wrong gender. She concluded that so-called “gender-affirming” care for kids is built on “shaky foundations.”
Shortly after, the NHS announced it would go a step further and review all transgender treatments for children. Now, another country appears to be following suit.
Scotland’s lone clinic for “treating” transgender kids announced that it will pause new prescriptions of puberty blockers for children.
Sandyford, a health clinic in Glasgow operated by Scotland’s National Health Service, made the announcement Thursday (via Sandyford):
Referrals from the Sandyford Sexual Health Services to Paediatric Endocrinology for the prescription of Puberty Suppressing Hormones have been paused for any new patients assessed by our Young Person’s Gender Service.
Patients aged 16 to 17 years old who have not been treated by Paediatric Endocrinology, but who are still seeking treatment for their gender incongruence, will no longer be prescribed gender affirming hormone treatment until they are 18 years old.
[...]
This service update follows research from NHS England and the publication of the Cass Review while we work with the Scottish Government to engage in research with NHS England that will generate evidence of safety and long-term impact for therapies.
In a statement to NBC News, Tracey Gillies, executive medical director at NHS Lothian, one of the 14 regional divisions of NHS Scotland, said that Hilary Cass’ review “is a significant piece of work into how the NHS can better support children and young people who present with gender dysphoria.”
“Patient safety must always be our priority and it is right that we pause this treatment to allow more research to be carried out,” Gillies added.
Earlier this month, Townhall covered how researchers at the Netherlands’ University of Groningen released a 15-year study, Development of Gender Non-Contentedness During Adolescence and Early Adulthood, that found that most children who feel “transgender” at a young age end up outgrowing it.
In January, Townhall also covered how Sallie Baxendale, professor of clinical neuropsychology at University College London, launched a study into the impacts of puberty blockers on children’s brain functions. Her findings showed that these experimental drugs leave a “detrimental impact” on young children’s IQ levels.
