Sallie Baxendale: Are Puberty Blockers Reversible?

Sallie Baxendale is a respected neuropsychologist. She has published books and

studies over many years about brain function, brain structure and brain

development. In this video clip, she reports on her work which has analyzed the

research studies which have looked at the impact on brain development of

puberty blockers. Sallie highlights:

the complexities involved in brain research

the critical periods for brain development

the fact that puberty is a critical period for brain development which is hormonally

driven

there are clear sex differences in brain development during puberty driven by sex

hormones

no research currently exists which demonstrates that puberty blockers are

reversible

there is cause to have major concerns about the use of puberty blockers given

the potential for harms

Given all of the above, it is hard to justify any use of puberty blockers with

children as the evidence is simply not available to demonstrate any positive

outcomes.

Baxendale states that the fact that puberty blockers have been used as a

treatment for gender questioning children for a number of years without having

good research about the outcomes, constitutes a medical scandal.