DUP's Diane Dodds welcomes puberty blocker ban - Sinn Fein and SDLP silent

Sinn Fein and the SDLP declined to comment on the ban when asked by the News Letter – while the UUP and Alliance don’t oppose their use and say decisions should be made on an individual basis.

The UK government has welcomed the NHS England announcement – calling it a “landmark decision”, adding it would help ensure care is based on evidence and is in the “best interests of the child”.

Puberty blockers pause the natural physical changes which happen to children during puberty – like breast development in girls or facial hair in boys, leaving their physical development suspended.

The controversial drugs will now only be available to children as part of clinical research trials.

Mrs Dodds said: “The lack of evidence about the safety and effectiveness of puberty blockers should make any decision to stop prescribing them an obvious one to take. There should be obvious wider concern about prescribing life-altering drugs which can cause irreversible change and harm to children.

“It is notable that the decision in relation to puberty blockers is not moving against the tide, but is actually part of a much wider reappraisal by many countries of the use of these drugs.”

NHS England said: “We have concluded that there is not enough evidence to support the safety or clinical effectiveness of (puberty blockers) to make the treatment routinely available at this time.”

At a Belfast Pride event last August SF MLA Emma Sheerin backed access to puberty blockers for young trans teenagers, a position later confirmed by the party. Sinn Fein did not respond to a question from the News Letter on the NHS England ban.

Advocates of access to puberty blocker drugs for children have described them as a key part of “gender affirming healthcare”. In 2021, the Alliance MLA Paula Bradshaw – a former party health spokesperson – said “access to gender-affirming healthcare” should be included in a bill of rights for Northern Ireland.

In response to the ban, an Alliance Party spokesperson said: “The prescription of puberty blockers, as with any medical issue, is a decision for that individual, their families and medical professionals to take.”

The Ulster Unionist Party’s health spokesperson Alan Chambers MLA said: “The decision to use puberty blockers should be made on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the individual needs and circumstances of the adolescent, in consultation with knowledgeable healthcare providers and mental health professionals. Parents must be included in any discussion and decision. Additionally, ongoing research is needed to better understand the long-term effects and outcomes of puberty blockers in transgender youth.”

Children in Northern Ireland who were on puberty blockers – and subsequently cross-sex hormones and ‘sex change’ operations as adults – would have previously been sent to the GIDS service in London.

However, the Knowing Our Identity service based within the Belfast Trust has provided a range of “treatments and support” , which the health service has said are designed to be clinically appropriate and reflect a staged approach in terms of psychological support and assessment.

They have said that subsequent physical assessment and ‘intervention in the form of puberty blockers’ were provided in keeping with national and international guidelines.

Knowing Our Identity has offered access to “gender affirming endocrine interventions” (such as puberty blockers) for young people – after a psychological assessment and consideration – since 2014.

However, the service was effectively cancelled in March 2020 – because there wasn’t a continuation of service into adulthood due to waiting lists. This would have meant that children were given puberty blockers but then not have a ‘transition pathway’ after 18 – so the prescription of puberty blockers was stopped for ethical reasons.

Any young person referred before March 2020 will have access.