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oung people currently being treated with puberty blockers will not be included in the trial.
The trial will be randomised, meaning some young people will receive the puberty blockers and others will receive a placebo. This is designed to help researchers understand if there are benefits to taking the drugs, and whether there are any long-term negative effects.
The trial is being run by University College London’s Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, and is being funded by the UK government’s National Institute for Health Research.
Research participants will be aged between 13 and 16, and will have already been diagnosed with gender dysphoria and referred to a specialist gender clinic. They will have not yet begun puberty, or will be in the early stages of puberty.
Participants will be monitored for two years, during which time their mental health and physical wellbeing will be regularly assessed. The trial will also investigate the impact of puberty blockers on bone density, brain development and other physical and mental health outcomes.
The trial has been criticised by some who feel that puberty blockers should not be used on young people at all, and that a trial is therefore unethical. Others argue that there is not enough evidence to support the safety and efficacy of puberty blockers, and that a trial is therefore necessary to understand their impact on young people.