Legal advocacy group ADF International has called for an end to “reckless experimentation on children” by the NHS, which has commissioned a clinical trial for puberty blockers.
The trial is generally known as “Pathways” and can involve around 220 children between the ages of 10 and 16 being given puberty blockers, something ADF said may lead to “lifelong and infrequently irreversible consequences” for the kids.
In 2025 the British government banned the prescription of puberty blockers to minors, following the findings of the Cass Review.
The independent review found that puberty blockers presented a major risk to those that take them, especially minors, noting that the long-term impact of such drugs on brain development, psychological growth, and physical health are mostly unknown.
What is thought is that puberty blockers can have a major impact on fertility, sexual function and bone density. Such drugs are sometimes step one to cross-sex hormones and surgery.
That being the case, ADF argued that it’s unimaginable for youngsters to offer informed consent about such drugs. The group said, “Puberty blockers are step one down a medical path with extremely dangerous lifelong consequences.”
The group also questioned the worth of the study from a purely scientific viewpoint.
“Calling this a ‘clinical trial’ doesn’t make it secure,” said ADF.
“A two-year study can’t measure lifelong negative consequences on adult identity, fertility, or overall well-being. Launching this trial is treating children as lab experiments. It’s exposing society’s most vulnerable to the lie of gender ideology and its incredibly harmful effects.
“Too many children have already got been harmed because ideology has overtaken evidence. This trial perpetuates these same grave harms.”
The trial may not go ahead as a judicial review has been initiated by detransitioner Keira Bell and therapist James Esses, who argue that the NHS cannot legally experiment on children, especially when their very own review points to the potential for serious long-term consequences.
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