Details of a major new UK clinical trial to assess the risks and benefits of puberty-blocking drugs for children questioning their gender have been announced.
The trial is a response to the ban on the drugs' routine use for gender treatment last year, which was instituted after a major review found insufficient clinical evidence about their safety for people under 18.
Researchers from King's College London will lead the study, which will involve approximately 220 children under the age of 16 who are undergoing puberty.
It will examine the impact of the medications on the participants' physical, social, and emotional wellbeing.
However, some clinicians and campaigners have raised ethical questions about the trial.
Professor Emily Simonoff, the study leader and a professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at King’s College London, stated that families seeking help for gender-related distress often feel uncertain.
She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that young people and their parents "don't know what to do – they look at the information that's out there and they don't know what's best for them." Professor Simonoff clarified that the study is not designed to produce a single definitive answer. "We are looking very much at the balance between, possibly, benefits for mental health and quality of life, and any possible risks or harms," she explained.
The research will include monitoring participants' physical health and will be the first study of its kind to investigate the drugs' effects on brain development.