Overview
- King’s College London has received ethical and regulatory approval for a randomized trial that plans to recruit roughly 226 children and adolescents from early 2026.
- Health Secretary Wes Streeting defended the research as a way to generate better evidence for NHS care, highlighting clinical review, parental consent and ongoing non-medical support for participants.
- Researchers say the youngest typical entrants will be girls aged about 10–11 and boys aged about 11–12, with a maximum consent age of 15 years 11 months.
- The study will compare two pathways: immediate puberty suppression for two years versus a one‑year delay before starting, with results expected in about four years and potential continuation on treatment if judged clinically appropriate.
- Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has written to Streeting urging him to halt the trial, while Baroness Hilary Cass welcomed the work; routine NHS prescribing of puberty blockers for under‑18s remains banned under the 2024 policy except within approved research.