WPATH itself says puberty blocker reversibility studies are few
Tom Swarbrick said:
“the WPATH standards of care 8 acknowledges on puberty blockers, I'm quoting, the number of studies is still low, that I quote again, there are few outcome studies that follow youth in adulthood and that no clinical studies have reported on profiles of adolescents who regret their initial decision.”
Quoting a source directly, and quoting the very source that advocates for the treatment, is a powerful rhetorical move. If even WPATH admits the evidence is thin, a listener will conclude that supporters of blockers are overselling the certainty.
WPATH SOC8 does say that, and saying it is a mark of scientific honesty, not a warning against the treatment. Every responsible clinical guideline acknowledges where the evidence is still maturing: that is what responsible guidelines do. The same document that contains those words recommends puberty blockers as a first-line intervention and describes them as reversible, based on the biological action of GnRH analogues and decades of use in children with precocious puberty. Acknowledging that long-term follow-up data are limited is simply a description of where the research is, not a verdict on safety, and it is a very different thing from saying the treatment causes harm. The families who hear a fragment of a guideline quoted back at them and conclude that the guideline itself opposes what it actually recommends are the ones who pay the price: they walk away from a door that was open.
What I said at the time:
“That doesn't that doesn't are you trying to twist words into my mouth? That doesn't it doesn't say there, does it? But if you if you bring bring it up, have a look at WPATH. 1st step, puberty blockers, fully reversible. 2nd step, gender affirming hormones, partially reversible. And as time goes on, they're less reversible. 3rd step, surgery, irreversible.”
Families and young people who read a partial quote from a clinical guideline and conclude that the guideline itself opposes the treatment it actually recommends.