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WATCH: NHS-backed puberty blocker trial should be 'last resort', Fiona McAnena says
Dec 11, 2025
The Director of Campaigns at Sex Matters has declared the approval of an NHS-backed puberty blocker trial "not lawful or legitimate".Speaking to GB News, Fiona McAnena stressed approving the trial should have been one of the "absolute last resort" recommendations from the Cass Report to be implemented.FULL STORY HERE.
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there's been quite a stark reaction from a lot of campaigners on this issue
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We've just listed some of the risks that this trial is said to pose
0:10
Why do you think the government are pushing ahead with approving this trial? Well, the reason that the health secretary has given is that this is one of the recommendations of the Cass review
0:21
But there are many recommendations in that review. And I think most of us thought that this would be an absolute last resort
0:28
You know, already something like 2000 children have been had their puberty blocked and almost all of them, as far as we know, have gone on to cross sex hormones
0:38
They're all the children who went through the gender clinic at the Tavistock, which the Cass Review recommended should be closed down
0:45
And it has been closed down. So there is a huge population of young people, young adults now who've already been through this treatment
0:53
They were supposed to be followed up and their outcomes were supposed to be studied before there would be any new trial
1:01
That hasn't happened. So that the point isn it for this trial is that until we have solid evidence of what happens further down the line if you take these puberty blockers it very difficult to give advice
1:18
Yeah, I mean, I think we'd say, most people would say, we should back up and say
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what do we know about children who have distress about being male or female
1:28
And what we know historically is before puberty blockers were available, the vast majority of those children grew up
1:35
The cure for their distress was puberty. They went through puberty. They found out that they were young men or young women. In many cases, they were same sex attracted. And being gender nonconforming as a child does correlate with growing up to be gay
1:49
So no one should be surprised that they feel that way and then they grow up to be gay
1:54
But when they're given puberty blockers, none of that happens. Instead, as you said, they lose sexual function
2:01
And that's because they almost without exception go on to cross sex hormones
2:05
Now, there's another problem with this, which is that after the For Women Scotland judgment of the Supreme Court this spring
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It's not lawful or legitimate to be giving children treatment to stop their puberty so
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that they can pass as the opposite sex when they grow up And that was the original rationale for this treatment But the law now says you are your birth sex come what may So these children and their parents are
2:30
being given a false promise. Well, Fiona, we've also heard from Dr. Hilary Cass, who says that
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she's really pleased this trial is going ahead. We're also told that intensive support will be
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offered, including regular health monitoring. Are there any reassurances you could be given
2:47
like those I've just mentioned, that this trial could safely be carried out
2:52
Well, what we know for a fact is when you block children's puberty with these drugs
2:56
they don't go through puberty. You need a very good reason to do that to any child
3:01
You know, if someone has a life-threatening condition like a cancer that will kill them
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then destroying their fertility and their puberty, their sexual function might be justifiable
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But for these children, that's not the case. And the evidence historically is that's not the case
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So it's hard to see any reason why this should go ahead
3:22
And any way that you think that it could go ahead in some way
3:27
Well you know one of the things Dr Cass said is that she believes that some children some young people will have lifelong gender dysphoria and therefore would benefit from treatment to be able to pass as the other sex or to feel that perhaps they pass as the other sex
3:44
But she also said that no one can tell which children that is
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And there is still nothing here to say they have identified some reliable diagnostic tool to be able to spot which children
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And since the vast majority of them would otherwise grow out of their distress, what they're going to do is damage the health of many, many children, perhaps for the sake of a tiny number who will benefit
4:08
And that's just back to front. OK, Director of Campaigns at Sex Matters, Fiona McEnany, thank you very much for your time this afternoon
4:15
Now, a Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said the expert CAS review, which was accepted by the last government
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and this one, recommended a ban on puberty blockers and that clinical research be carried out
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because of a lack of scientific evidence. This trial will help to provide the evidence that is currently lacking
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Its approval came only after extremely rigorous safety checks and with multiple safeguards in place to protect young people's wellbeing
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including clinical and parental approval
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