Netherlands urged to rethink puberty blockers for gender-confused kids

The Dutch Parliament has urged its Government to research the “physical and mental health outcomes” of gender-confused children who have been given puberty-blocking drugs.

MPs highlighted that as the “number of minors with gender dysphoria is increasing rapidly”, the Netherlands needs to reassess its practice as “a number of other European countries, such as Sweden, have become more cautious” about puberty blockers.

The “Dutch Protocol”, which has influenced the UK and other countries in prescribing puberty blockers for gender-confused children, has been criticised for ignoring irreversible damage to bone density.

‘Experimental’

Psychotherapist and founder of campaign group Genspect, Stella O’Malley, said: “The Dutch Protocol became known as international best practice but it is not evidence-based care, it is experimental care, and we can’t even call it an experiment because there isn’t a control group.

“I think there is going to be a very difficult reckoning for all the clinics that followed the Dutch Protocol.”

In Dr Hilary Cass’s interim review of the Tavistock Clinic, she noted that although it initially followed the Dutch Protocol, it soon went beyond its recommendations by prescribing puberty blockers without “therapeutic support”.

The final version of the Cass Review is expected to be published in the coming weeks.

Suicide claims debunked

In Finland, a new study has debunked claims that preventing gender-confused young people from taking puberty blockers pushes them to commit suicide.

Of 2,083 records of people between eight and 22 years old and who visited gender clinics from 1996 to 2019, 20 committed suicide. The study found that once psychiatric history had been accounted for, “suicide mortalities did not differ” from those did not undergo trans procedures.

The study, led by top European psychologist Professor Riittakerttu Kaltiala, concluded: “Gender dysphoria per se does not seem to predict neither all-cause nor suicide mortality in gender-referred adolescents. Main predictor of mortality in this population is psychiatric morbidity, and medical gender reassignment does not have an impact on suicide risk.”

“It is of utmost importance to identify and appropriately treat mental disorders in adolescents experiencing gender dysphoria to prevent suicide; in addition, health policies need to ensure that accurate information is provided to professionals along these lines.”

Ideology

Last year, Professor Kaltiala warned that an ideologically-driven agenda is harming gender-confused children in the US.

In an article published by the American online news outlet The Free Press, Finnish-born Professor Riittakerttu Kaltiala hit out against the “widespread transitioning of gender-distressed minors” in the States.

In 2020, Finland’s national public health service recognised the “experimental” nature of the ‘gender-affirming model’ and recommended sex swaps be postponed “until adulthood.”