E-petition 751839 relating to the clinical trial into puberty blockers

Background

A debate has been scheduled for 23 March 2026 based on e-petition 751839 calling on the government to ‘Cancel the clinical trial into puberty blockers & safeguard vulnerable children’.

The e-petition states:

The government is aware of the potential irreversible impact (physical and emotional) of puberty blockers, having acknowledged an 'unacceptable safety risk’ following the Cass Review. Yet, hundreds of children are about to be given puberty blockers under a government-sanctioned trial.

We want this trial to be cancelled. We believe that the answer for children feeling dis-ease in their bodies (many of whom are autistic) is the passage of time and natural progression of puberty, coupled with explorative therapy. We believe that the answer is never medicalisation that can harm brain development, bone growth, sexual functioning, and lead to infertility, and that to put children on a path towards such harm is the antithesis of safeguarding.

Let us not be written into history as the country that knowingly harmed vulnerable children.

The petition began on 8 January 2026. The Petitions Committee decided on 12 February 2026 to hold a debate on the petition, which had reached 146,447 signatures as of 18 March 2026.

Government response to the petition

In response to the petition, provided on 2 February 2026, the government said:

We are following the expert advice of the Cass Review to establish a clinical trial to determine the relative benefits and harms of puberty suppression in young people with gender incongruence.

[…]

With the strongest safeguards possible, a trial of this kind is the only way to build a sufficiently high-quality evidence base to inform decisions on the future use of this treatment option for this vulnerable and distressed group of young people.

The full response from the government, including details of the evidence base that informed the PATHWAY clinical trial, can be found on the petitions page on the Parliamentary website.

In a statement to the House of Commons on 23 February 2026, the government announced it had paused the PATHWAY clinical trial following safety concerns raised by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.

Further reading

For more information on puberty blockers and the PATHWAYS trial, see the Library briefing: Hormone treatments for children and young people: Clinical trial and consultation, 19 March 2026

Other information is available from:

• Women and Equalities Committee, Evidence base on the safety and effectiveness of puberty blockers (non-inquiry session)
• Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST),Factors shaping gender incongruence and dysphoria, and the impact on health services, August 2023
• POST, Hormone Treatments for Children and Young People with Gender Dysphoria, November 2023

Parliamentary statements and debates

The list below includes statements and debates in the House of Commons since the 2024 general election.

• Clinical trials, 23 February 2026 | HCWS1347, Wes Streeting, Secretary for Health and Social Care. In this statement, the Health Secretary announced the pause of the PATHWAYS clinical trial.
• Cass Review, 24 November 2025 | UIN HCWS1088, Wes Streeting, Secretary for Health and Social Care. In this statement, the Health Secretary updated the Commons on the beginning of the PATHWAYS research programme.
• Gender Incongruence: Puberty Supressing Hormones, 30 April 2025, Westminster Hall debate.
• Puberty-suppressing Hormones, 11 December 2024 | 758 cc914-916, Wes Streeting, Secretary for Health and Social Care. In this statement, the Health Secretary announced the government would indefinitely extend the ban on privately prescribing puberty blockers for children and young people with gender dysphoria.
• Improvements to gender identity services for children and young people, 4 September 2024 | UIN HCWS70, Wes Streeting, Secretary for Health and Social Care. In this statement, the Health Secretary updated the Commons on the implementation of recommendations from the Cass Review.

Parliamentary questions

• Puberty Suppressing Hormones, 29 January 2026 | UIN 107599. The Conservative MP Rebecca Paul asked the government to publish a document related to the PATHWAYS trial; the government said it did not hold a copy of the document.
• Puberty Suppressing Hormones: Clinical Trials, 13 January 2026 | UIN 97474. The Reform UK MP Sarah Pochin asked about the PATHWAYS study design; the government outlined its approach to the study.
• Puberty Suppressing Hormones: Disclosure of Information, 7 January 2026 | HL13162. The crossbench peer Baroness Falkner asked the government about whether certain studies were conducted by NHS gender services; the government said work was ongoing to begin such a study.
• Puberty Suppressing Hormones: Children, 22 December 2025 | UIN 94866. The independent MP Rupert Lowe asked the government about NHS spending on puberty blocker medicines for under-18s; the government provided the data but warned that it included spending on these medicines for all kinds of conditions, not just gender dysphoria.
• NHS England: Expenditure, 17 December 2025 | UIN 94873. The independent MP Rupert Lowe asked the government about assessments of financial oversight and risk relating to prescribing puberty blockers to children; the government provided links to further information.
• Puberty Suppressing Hormones: Gender Dysphoria , 17 December 2025 | UIN 94872. The independent MP Rupert Lowe asked the government about the evidence used by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in its clinical assessment of puberty blockers to treat gender dysphoria; the government replied NICE had not conducted such assessments but referred to two evidence summaries.
• Puberty Suppressing Hormones: Children, 17 December 2025 | UIN 94867. The independent MP Rupert Lowe asked the government for safety data relating to puberty blocker medicines; the government summarised this data.
• Gender Dysphoria: Prescriptions, 16 December 2025 | UIN 94869. The independent MP Rupert Lowe asked the government what instructions it had given to NHS gender hubs on prescribing restrictions; the government referred to NHS England guidance.