Country Pauses Transgender Medications for Minors

Scotland has paused all new prescriptions of transgender medications such as puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for minors, the latest in a string of developments in Britain pumping the brakes on transgender medical services for minors.

Scotland’s only youth gender clinic, the Sandyford clinic in Glasgow, which is operated by Scotland’s National Health Service (NHS) made the announcement on Thursday.

New prescriptions for puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones have been paused, although children already receiving these drugs will be able to remain on them, the clinic said in a statement. Teenagers must now be 18 before being prescribed cross-sex hormones, the clinic said.

“We are committed to providing the best possible clinical care for young people accessing and understand the distress that gender incongruence can cause,” the clinic said. “While this pause is in place, we will continue to give anyone who is referred into the Young People Gender Service the psychological support that they require while we review the pathways in line with the findings.” (Read more from “Country Pauses Transgender Medications for Minors” HERE)