New study cautions against use of puberty-blocking drugs on gender-confused children

A new study by three medical experts and scholars has cautioned against the use of "experimental" puberty-blocking drugs on gender-confused children as the scientific and medical communities have not yet adequately researched its potential side-effects.

The report, titled "Growing Pains: Problems With Puberty Suppression in Treating Gender Dysphoria," noted that puberty suppression therapy is increasingly being recommended for children with gender dysphoria at younger ages even though there is little evidence that shows that it is "reversible, safe, or effective for treating gender dysphoria."

The new study, published by quarterly journal The New Atlantis on Tuesday, was authored by Paul Hruz, an associate professor of pediatrics, endocrinology and diabetes, and associate professor of cell biology and physiology at Washington University in St. Louis; Lawrence Mayer, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine scholar in residence and professor of statistics and biostatistics at Arizona State University; and Paul McHugh, Johns Hopkins University's distinguished service professor of psychiatry.

The authors cautioned that psychologists still do not understand the cause of gender dysphoria in children and adolescents. They argued that puberty suppression therapy should be considered experimental until much is known about the condition and until controlled clinical trials of the said form of treatment are carried out.

"Regardless of the good intentions of the physicians and parents, to expose young people to such treatments is to endanger them," the authors stated in the report.

According to The Christian Post, the study was a follow-up to a special report written by McHugh and Mayer last year for The New Atlantis on gender and sexuality. The 2016 report noted that studies have indicated that gender dysphoria in children most often does not persist into adulthood.

In the new report, the scholars warned that patients with gender dysphoria are more likely to identify as a member of the opposite sex when they become adults due to puberty blocking treatments.

The authors noted that the use of puberty blockers "may have solidified the feelings of cross-gender identification in these patients, leading them to commit more strongly to sex reassignment than they might have if they had received a different diagnosis or a different course of treatment."

"The interference with normal pubertal development will influence the gender identity of the child by reducing the prospects for developing a gender identity corresponding to his or her biological sex," the authors added.

During a conference call Tuesday, Hruz warned that many parents who allow their children to go through with puberty suppression therapy may still not be aware that the treatment is still in its experimental stage. The reported noted that the use of GnRH analogue drugs for gender dysphoria has not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

The authors concluded their report by saying more research is needed to find new ways to help people deal with gender dysphoria with "less permanent and less drastic treatments." They stated that the use of puberty suppression for minors is a "radical step that presumes a great deal of knowledge competence despite the ignorance in the scientific about the nature of gender identity."