The United Kingdom is renewing a temporary ban on the sale and supply of puberty blockers, a type of hormone therapy prescribed to some transgender youth.

The United Kingdom initially banned puberty blockers in March of 2024. The initial ban limited the prescription of puberty blockers for people under 16 years old. The renewed ban applies to all people under the age of 18, unless they were already prescribed before the ban.

Puberty blockers are normally prescribed as a treatment for minors or young adults suffering from gender dysphoria in order to suspend or block physical changes that occur as a result of puberty.

Most American medical associations, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, still endorse the treatment in certain circumstances when a patient is severely troubled by gender dysphoria. 

The ban will also extend to Northern Ireland as of August 27 and prevent the sale and supply of the medicines from prescribers in the European Economic Area or Switzerland.