Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many children under the age of 16 were administered puberty blockers, including through (a) clinical trials and (b) private routes in each of the last five years; and what adverse effects were reported.

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists or ‘puberty blockers’ are used to treat several medical conditions in children and young people. These can include precocious puberty, some forms of cancer, and endometriosis. They have been used outside of their licenced indication to treat gender dysphoria.

The following table shows the National Health Service prescriptions of puberty blockers for children aged 15 years old and under that were prescribed in England and dispensed in a community pharmacy or general practice in each year from 2020/21 to September 2025:

Source: ePACT2, which is sourced from the NHS Business Services Authority’s Information Services Data Warehouse

Note: figures are unrounded.

The NHS does not centrally collect data on secondary care prescribing. Information on the clinical indication for which these medications have been prescribed is not held. The Government does not hold data that shows how many children under 16 years old were administered puberty blockers through clinical trials or private routes.

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has not previously funded trials specifically giving puberty suppressing hormones to children and information on non-NIHR funded trials is not held.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has received three United Kingdom based suspected adverse drug reaction reports in which a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists analogue has been reported as being used in a child or young person for the purpose of puberty suppression in gender dysphoria.