Animal studies suggest puberty blockers may impair brain development, sometimes irrevocably.

A review¹ of studies of the effect of puberty blockers on animals (sheep, mice, macaque monkeys) suggests that brain development and neurological functioning may be compromised by the treatment. In some cases, hormone replacement (i.e. testosterone replacement in male sheep given GnRH agonists) did not mitigate or undo the observed changes. A variety of sex-specific effects were also observed.

1. Baxendale S. The impact of suppressing puberty on neuropsychological function: a review. Acta Paediatrica. 2024; 113(6): 1156-1167. doi:10.1111/apa.17150 ↩︎