Stop Labour’s ‘grotesque’ puberty drug experiment: Top Tory calls trial on 226 kids ‘chemical castration’ as campaigners launch bid to halt it

Campaigners last night began legal action to halt a trial of puberty-blocking drugs on more than 200 children.

The NHS-backed experiment was branded ‘grotesque’ by the Tories, who likened it to ‘state-sanctioned chemical castration’. The legal fight is led by concerned parents and a woman who regretted her own gender treatment.

The campaigners say the testing of the controversial drugs on gender-questioning youngsters is unlawful and unethical. 

They have sent a 40-page ‘letter before claim’ to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and Health Research Authority, which last month gave the green light for King’s College London to carry out the trial.

As part of a wider £10.7million Government-funded project known as PATHWAYS, it will see 226 children under 16 who have been diagnosed with ‘gender incongruence’ prescribed puberty blockers for two years.

The Government has already banned the routine prescribing of puberty blockers as an ‘unacceptable safety risk for children and young people’, opponents point out, asking why such a study has now been approved.

Writing in today’s Daily Mail, Conservative equalities spokesman Claire Coutinho warns: ‘This is nothing less than the state-sanctioned chemical castration of children. 

‘And in years to come, it will be seen as one of the darkest acts of this Labour Government.’

She adds: ‘Astonishingly children with autism or other neurodevelopmental disorders will not be barred from the trial. 

‘That means children who may find it hard to express themselves or have cognitive difficulties – children who deserve our love, support and care – will instead be sent on a pathway to sterilisation. This is grotesque.’

The trial was recommended by the landmark 2024 Cass Review of transgender services for children, which paved the way for puberty blockers to be banned in light of the lack of evidence the drugs were safe or effective.

But the report also suggested NHS England establish a clinical trial as part of a wider research project into gender treatments for young people. 

However, the legal challenge states that ‘this is not medicine as it is usually understood’, since gender incongruence is not classed as a physical disease or mental health disorder.

The campaigners also warn of concerns the drugs will damage patients’ fertility as well as risking their bone strength and brain development. 

And they question how results will be clinically measured, being mainly based on participants filling in questionnaires about how happy they feel, which is entirely subjective.

The claimants have now sent formal letters to the medical watchdogs who approved the trial, warning them they will face the prospect of a full High Court Judicial Review unless they halt it.

It will also heap pressure on Health Secretary Wes Streeting to intervene, after he was urged by MPs and peers across the political spectrum to stop what they branded a ‘dangerous mistake’ that could ‘devastate’ the health of vulnerable young people.

A spokesman for the Bayswater Support Group, which is leading the legal action and which represents about 800 parents of children who identify as trans or non-binary, said: ‘The puberty blocker trial will subject a new cohort of children to an experimental intervention.

‘This is despite repeated previous failures to demonstrate benefits and mounting evidence that this is just the first step towards lifelong medicalisation. 

‘This comes with a high risk of infertility, sexual dysfunction and long-term health risks.’

Keira Bell, who ‘detransitioned’ after being given puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones as a teenager, said: ‘It’s disgusting we’re again putting children on these drugs. Have we forgotten about the children that have already suffered from puberty blockers?’

Fellow claimant James Esses, a gender-critical therapist, said: ‘We already know the irreversible damage, both physical and emotional, caused by puberty blockers. That is precisely why they were banned in the first place.

‘To put more children on a path towards such harm, like lambs to the slaughter, would be the antithesis of child safeguarding.’ 

Paul Conrathe, the lawyer acting for the claimants, said: ‘The trial has no way of knowing if the treatment will benefit an individual child. 

‘It can be certain that it exposes that child to significant risks – infertility, poor bone density to name but a few.’

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch added: ‘There is absolutely no justification for the Government and the NHS continuing to kowtow to an extreme ideology that endorses experimenting on children. 

‘The evidence is clear that using puberty blockers on vulnerable children is not just dangerous, it’s indefensible.

‘Wes Streeting has the power to stop this trial and he must, before this Labour Government is responsible for a whole new set of young adults regretting horrendous life-changing medical interventions in the name of equality.’ 

But a spokesman for the HRA said: ‘The PATHWAYS Trial has all the necessary regulatory approvals. 

‘The application we received for the trial was reviewed in line with well-established legal and national policy frameworks by a properly constituted research ethics committee.’

The health department said: ‘The expert Cass Review – accepted by the last government and this one – recommended a ban on puberty blockers and that clinical research be carried out to because of a lack of scientific evidence. 

‘This trial will help provide the evidence that is currently lacking. Its approval came only after extremely rigorous safety checks and with multiple safeguards in place to protect young people’s wellbeing – including clinical and parental approval.’

No lower age limit on children joining blocker trial admits leader

By Martin Beckford, Policy Editor 

MPs and peers were left horrified as the researcher leading the puberty blockers trial admitted there is no official lower age limit for participants and that they could suffer serious health problems.

A briefing was held for Parliamentarians last week so they could hear from clinicians the full details of the PATHWAYS project, which will see 226 children diagnosed with gender incongruence given the controversial drugs.

They were told by Health Secretary Wes Streeting that he was ‘certainly satisfied’ with the setup of the project and that ‘establishing the evidence’ was the ‘best way’ to proceed.

But several of those who attended the event in Westminster told the Daily Mail they left with even more concerns about the trial.

They heard from study leader Professor Emily Simonoff that there is no lower age limit for children who can join the trial.

She told the politicians: ‘It’s not considered legal or ethical to arbitrarily exclude an individual from research on the basis of age alone.’ 

When challenged, she added: ‘The reality is that we will be surprised if there is more than one or two young people under the age of 12, because the judgment is based on their ability to give that informed assent.’

She said the ‘main possible harm’ to participants is a decrease in bone mineral density, and that there are also ‘theoretical risks’ to ‘fertility and sexual development’ and ‘brain development’ although she insisted they are ‘not established’.

Independent MP Rosie Duffield said: ‘I think the fact that the clinical lead for the trial told MPs that ‘there is no lower age limit’ will shock many people. 

‘This means that children experiencing what is often temporary gender distress will be able to consent to take medication that stops their natural development and growth, possibly irreversibly.’