Cancel the clinical trial into puberty blockers & safeguard vulnerable children
150,786 people signed this petition to the UK Parliament after it opened on 8 January 2026; it closed on 8 July 2026. The Government responded on 2 February 2026. MPs debated it in Westminster Hall on 23 March 2026.
The petition
The petition's creator is not named in the Petitions site's published record. Quoted in full from the UK Parliament petitions site.
Cancel the clinical trial into puberty blockers & safeguard vulnerable children
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 Government's response
The Government published its response on 2 February 2026; the petitions site lists the Department of Health and Social Care as responsible. Its summary:
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.
The opening 344 words of the 773-word response:
It is essential for the Government and the NHS to be guided by expert clinical advice and act with caution and care when it comes to supporting children and young people living with gender incongruence. The independent Cass Review concluded that the rationale for early puberty suppression remains unclear, and that there is not enough clinical evidence for the safe and effective routine use of puberty suppressing hormones to treat gender incongruence in under-18s. For that reason, this Government supported and extended indefinitely the ban on their use outside of research. Despite these restrictions, some young people are going to great lengths to source these drugs from unregulated providers, in the absence of scientific evidence.
The Cass Review recommended that a programme of research be established to underpin the design and delivery of NHS gender care. It specifically recommended this include a clinical trial into puberty suppression in young people with gender incongruence. This recommendation addresses the lack of evidence about the relative benefits and harms of this treatment option, particularly when provided alongside an updated model of NHS care incorporating holistic assessment and a comprehensive and tailored package of psychosocial support.
The study protocol is available on the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) website: https://fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/award/NIHR167530
The bar for a UK clinical trial to be approved is extremely high, with the PATHWAYS trial going through rigorous rounds of scientific, clinical, ethical and regulatory review. It was approved by an independent NIHR funding committee. The final protocol was subject to rigorous approval processes through both the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the Health Research Authority – including review by an independent Research Ethics Committee.
The Commission on Human Medicines also considered information on the trial in detail and made recommendations that were considered and adopted by the study team. 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.
Read the full response on the petitions site.
Where the signatures came from
Signatures came from 650 constituencies. Measured against each constituency's electorate at the 2024 general election, the most came from Upper Bann, with 17.0 signatures per 1,000 electors (1,384 in all).
148,574 of the signatures were from the UK and 2,212 from elsewhere, by the location signers gave.
| Constituency | Signatures | Electorate, July 2024 | Per 1,000 electors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upper Bann | 1,384 | 81,249 | 17.0 |
| Great Yarmouth | 641 | 73,317 | 8.7 |
| East Antrim | 574 | 73,302 | 7.8 |
| Lagan Valley | 575 | 82,201 | 7.0 |
| Na h-Eileanan an Iar | 135 | 21,325 | 6.3 |
| Newry and Armagh | 479 | 78,244 | 6.1 |
| Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber | 422 | 71,756 | 5.9 |
| Belfast East | 421 | 72,917 | 5.8 |
| Strangford | 406 | 74,525 | 5.4 |
| North Antrim | 393 | 74,697 | 5.3 |
| Region | Signatures |
|---|---|
| South East | 21,960 |
| North West | 16,207 |
| East of England | 14,964 |
| South West | 14,271 |
| Scotland | 13,601 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 12,051 |
| London | 11,385 |
| West Midlands | 11,182 |
| East Midlands | 10,238 |
| Wales | 7,294 |
| Northern Ireland | 7,154 |
| North East | 6,953 |
Debate in Parliament
MPs debated the petition in Westminster Hall on 23 March 2026. Read the debate in Hansard. House of Commons Library debate pack.
Source and receipt
- https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/751839.jsonUK Parliament Petitions API · read 2026-10-15 · SHA-256
21e8c71a5239d667… - The petition on petition.parliament.uk
The petition's words are its creator's and the response is the Government's; this site quotes both and gives no view on either. Signature counts can still change while a petition is open. To report an error, send a correction request.