Originally published September 21, 2023 7:00 pm PDT
Findings contradict a 2011 analysis.
QUICK FACTS:
- A review of a 2011 study claiming that puberty blockers did not alter “psychological function” found those original results to be inaccurate.
- The original study was conducted by University College London Hospitals (UCLH) and the Tavistock Centre’s Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS), which has since been ordered to shut down.
- Thirty-four percent of minors’ mental health “reliably deteriorated,” while 29% of minors’ mental health “reliably improved” with the introduction of puberty blockers.
- The review allowed the authors “to look at how a treatment is performing in terms of the percentage of patients improving, deteriorating and showing clinically significant change.”
- “It is possible, using this approach, to look at patterns, such as who is benefitting and who is not,” the researchers stated. “We recommend that these approaches be incorporated into new GD [gender dysphoria] services being established in the UK as well as new research studies being designed.”
GENDER CLINIC TO BE SHUT DOWN:
- The National Health Service (NHS) called for the Tavistock Centre and its Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) to be shut down.
- The gender treatments were deemed “not a safe or viable long-term option,” according to Dr. Hilary Cass, who submitted a report to NHS.
- Focusing on gender identity has “overshadowed” other mental health issues, she noted.
- Whistleblowers from the gender clinic revealed girls were considered transgender if they did not like “pink ribbons and dollies,” as well as other ideas holding “no psychological scrutiny at all.”
- Responding to the new analysis, a spokesman from Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust said, “We are grateful to all of the clinicians and academics who have contributed to this study over the years, and we welcome new peer-reviewed analyses of the evidence around how to support these young people.”
- “The analysis plan for the original study was independently produced by experts in medical statistics, and the underlying data was published so that other researchers might conduct further analyses,” the spokesman added.
- The Tavistock Centre is set to close in March 2024.
BACKGROUND:
- The U.K.’s National Health Service announced that it will cease prescribing puberty blockers to children, citing a lack of evidence that the drugs are beneficial.
- According to an NHS spokesperson, “The NHS is now engaging on the proposal that puberty blockers will not be made routinely available outside of research. We will develop a study into the impact of puberty blockers on gender dysphoria in children and young people with early-onset gender dysphoria, which aims to be up and running in 2024.”
- “All the evidence shows that puberty blockers don’t help, and there is clear evidence of physical and psychological harm caused by them, so this change is in line with the evidence we have,” said a former governor of the Tavistock Centre David Bell, who later became a whistleblower.
- “A very large percentage of children being treated for gender dysphoria have other problems such as autism and depression, and many are upset or confused about their sexuality,” Bell stated.
