The PATHWAYS trial, led by King’s College London, will follow 226 children under 16 already in NHS gender services, randomly assigning half to receive puberty-suppressing drugs like triptorelin right away and the rest after a year-long wait.
All participants get psychosocial support and monitoring for quality of life, bone density, brain development, and mental health, following the 2024 Cass Review’s call for stronger evidence after weak prior data and risks like fertility impacts.
Funded with £10.7 million, the study comes after blockers were restricted to research only, with Health Secretary Wes Streeting stressing safe, evidence-led care and sharp criticism from figures like Elon Musk and former PM Liz Truss who call it harmful experimentation.
Boys are boys. Girls are girls. These vile puberty blocking experiments are appalling. It’s sick. It’s child abuse. It should be illegal. Leave children alone.
Results are expected in about four years.
