A new study from the University of London has revealed that the ban on puberty blockers in the UK is having “serious adverse effects” on young trans people.

The study, titled Harming children: the effects of the UK puberty blocker ban, headed by trans academic Natacha Kennedy, was published in the Journal of Gender Studies, and analysed figures collected last autumn 2024, when a temporary ban had been put in place by the Conservative government, as well as interview data from January and February 2025, after the UK’s official ban came into effect in December 2025.

The overwhelming theme within the study shows significant levels of distress and a notable drop in terms of mental health. 

One interview done with a parent whose child was denied treatment reflected this as they told researchers that her child, who has been denied healthcare, felt “life wasn’t worth living” and had resorted to self-harm.

“My child feels despair, notions of suicide as puberty now accelerating and body changes seem so out of control and irreversible,” she told researchers. In a stark comparison, those who had received treatment via puberty blockers showed what researchers described as “obvious improvements in quality of life and mental health” 

Another parent whose child avoided the ban by receiving a prescription before the cutoff echoed these worries: “I honestly believe my daughter might not be with us if she had been unable to access puberty blockers. Until we addressed this she couldn’t begin to process anything else, she was just utterly frozen by her fear of the changes that were happening to her against her will.”

Data was also collected from the young people aged between 13 and 17 who received private treatment abroad. One young person described the liberation they feel after receiving treatment: “I’m not stuck any more and I feel like I’m free. I feel like I was over that, and it’s just like, happy.” 

Another described the feeling of powerlessness and invisibility in terms of the ban. “I felt ‘disappeared’, like, you’re just like nothing. Like, you’re not important. Like you’re not seen by anyone. You’re living your life with the system around you that doesn’t care for you. I remember feeling kind of really invisible and all that, like, no one cared.”

The researchers at the University of London explained that the data given proves that the ban ignored major risk, which is currently the cause of “severe psychological, physical and social harm scarring the lives of trans children and young people”.

They went on to say, “Those advocating banning puberty blockers have justified it on the grounds that it is to ‘protect children’. The evidence here shows that is quite clearly not doing that. On the contrary the ban is causing very significant harm to trans children and young people and consequently there can be no justification for it to continue.”

If you have been affected by this story or are are looking to reach out to someone for support or advice or just to talk, there are numerous services available for LGBTQ+ people, listed below, and many offer instant messaging support.

Samaritans
National LGBT+ Helpline
The Switchboard
Dublin Lesbian Line
Belong To
TENI
Aware
Pieta House
Jigsaw
Mental Health Ireland
Garda Confidential Line

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