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Hormone Therapy for Children: Irreversible Damage Masquerading as Care?
In the past decade, there’s been a sharp rise in the number of children and teens being offered puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones as treatment for gender dysphoria.
But here’s the uncomfortable truth:
Despite the popularity of this medical path, there is no solid evidence proving its long-term safety — and emerging data suggests the effects may be irreversible and biologically damaging.
So why are we fast-tracking vulnerable children onto a path of lifelong medicalisation — when their bodies are still developing and their identities still forming?
⚠️ The Facts We Can’t Ignore
Let’s be absolutely clear:
No large-scale, long-term studies have proven that hormone therapy in children is safe.
What does exist shows cause for serious concern — especially when it comes to bone health, cognitive development, and fertility.
🧠Puberty Blockers: “Reversible Pause” or Permanent Disruption?
Puberty blockers (GnRH analogues) are often marketed as a temporary, reversible pause button.
But the evidence doesn’t support that narrative.
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Bone Density Loss: Adolescents on blockers miss the critical window for building peak bone mass. Some studies show persistent deficits even after stopping.
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Cognitive Development: Puberty isn’t just physical. It’s a time of major neurological rewiring. Blocking sex hormones interrupts this.
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Sexual Maturation: Blocking puberty prevents the natural development of sexual function, which can’t always be restored later.
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98% of teens who go on puberty blockers proceed to cross-sex hormones — raising serious questions about whether the “pause” is truly neutral.
đź’‰ Cross-Sex Hormones: Irreversible, Risk-Heavy, and Life-Altering
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Estrogen for males and testosterone for females result in permanent body changes, including breast development or genital growth.
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These treatments alter fertility, often permanently sterilising young people who may later regret their decision.
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Hormonal imbalance has been linked to:
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Blood clotting disorders
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Increased cardiovascular risk
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Mood instability
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Reduced bone strength
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Insulin resistance
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This is not cosmetic.
This is systemic hormonal disruption — on a body that hasn't even finished growing.
🧬 Developmental Disruption Is Not "Affirming" — It’s Damaging
Children are not adults.
They are still developing skeletally, neurologically, emotionally, and hormonally.
Interfering with those systems — without lifelong data, and without the child’s mature, informed capacity to consent — is not progressive. It’s experimental.
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There is no medical equivalent where we allow children to choose permanent physiological change based on subjective feelings.
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We do not give testosterone to young boys with low confidence, or cosmetic surgery to teens with body dysmorphia.
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So why are we blocking puberty and altering hormones in response to identity — something that often changes during adolescence?
🧠Countries Are Backtracking — And Fast
Some of the most progressive nations are now reversing course:
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Sweden: Banned hormones and blockers outside of clinical trials for minors.
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Finland: Prioritises psychological therapy over medical transition.
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UK (NHS): Following the Cass Review, has closed the Tavistock Gender Clinic and shifted toward a more cautious, holistic model.
These decisions aren’t political — they’re clinical. Based on the lack of robust evidence and rising numbers of young detransitioners speaking out.
❌ The Final Verdict: This Is Not “Care” — It’s Medical Experimentation
Children deserve love, support, space to explore — and protection from irreversible medical harm.
Giving hormones to developing children with no proven long-term safety isn’t compassionate. It’s reckless.
We do not treat distress by disrupting biology.
We support the mind — without destroying the body.