Puberty blockers trial set to proceed after legal challenge thrown out by judge

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By Callum Parke and Danny Halpin, PA Media

A clinical trial into the benefits and risks of puberty blockers in teenagers is set to proceed after a legal challenge over the trial was thrown out by a High Court judge.

The trial, known as Pathways, is set to see around 220 children with persistent gender incongruence receive puberty suppressing hormones, half of whom would begin the treatment straight away while half would start it a year later.

It follows a review published in April 2024 by Baroness Cass, who found that there was not enough evidence on the use of puberty blockers for clinicians and families to make informed decisions.

A campaign group and two individuals sought to bring legal action against the Health Research Authority (HRA) and the Department of Health and Social Care over the proposed trial, but this was dismissed by a judge on Friday.

The claimants in the legal action were Bayswater Support Group – made up of parents and guardians of children and young adults who identify as trans or non-binary – as well as psychotherapist James Esses and Keira Bell, who began taking puberty blockers when she was 16 before later “detransitioning” and who has spoken of the long-term effects such treatments had on her.