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HHS Review Challenges Ethics and Evidence of Gender-Affirming Care for Minors

The 400-page report, commissioned by the Trump administration, deems evidence for treatments like puberty blockers very low and raises ethical concerns over planned NHS trials.

Illustration by Noah Hickey. (Photos by Unsplash; Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
Cass had recommended a trial of puberty blockers to establish possible benefits and harms
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Overview

  • The US Department of Health and Human Services released a 400-page review concluding that evidence supporting gender-affirming treatments for minors is very low.
  • The review highlights significant risks of treatments, including infertility, cognitive issues, and heart disease, and questions the ethics of ongoing NHS puberty-blocker trials.
  • The report’s authors, whose identities remain undisclosed, argue that the trials may violate ethical standards such as the Nuremberg Code and World Medical Association guidelines.
  • Major medical associations in the US continue to affirm gender-affirming care as clinically appropriate and potentially lifesaving, contrasting with the review’s findings.
  • This report follows Trump’s January executive order ending federal funding for gender-affirming care for minors and the cancellation of $477 million in related grants.