The effect of early puberty suppression on treatment options and outcomes in transgender patients

Nat Rev Urol. 2020 Nov;17(11):626-636. doi: 10.1038/s41585-020-0372-2. Epub 2020 Sep 23.

Abstract

In the past 10-15 years, paediatric transgender care has emerged at the forefront of several general practice and subspecialty guidelines and is the topic of continuing medical education for various medical disciplines. Providers in specialties ranging from family medicine, paediatrics and adolescent medicine to endocrinology, gynaecology and urology are caring for transgender patients in increasing numbers. Current and evolving national and international best practice guidelines recommend offering a halt of endogenous puberty for patients with early gender dysphoria, in whom impending puberty is unacceptable for their psychosocial health and wellness. Pubertal blockade has implications for fertility preservation, transgender surgical care and psychosocial health, all of which must be considered and discussed with the patient and their family and/or legal guardian before initiation.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Age Factors
  • Androgens / therapeutic use*
  • Body Image / psychology
  • Child
  • Cryopreservation
  • Early Detection of Cancer
  • Estrogens / therapeutic use
  • Female
  • Fertility Preservation*
  • Gender Dysphoria / psychology
  • Gender Dysphoria / therapy*
  • Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone / agonists*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Menarche
  • Mental Health*
  • Oocyte Retrieval
  • Ovary
  • Psychosocial Functioning
  • Puberty
  • Sex Reassignment Procedures*
  • Sexual Development
  • Sperm Retrieval
  • Testis
  • Transgender Persons*

Substances

  • Androgens
  • Estrogens
  • Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone