Carla Lockhart MP has been a long standing and consistent campaigner on this issue, having raised concerns repeatedly in Parliament, submitted parliamentary questions and written directly to Ministers regarding the lack of robust evidence, safeguarding failures and life changing consequences associated with the use of puberty blockers on children and young people.

Speaking following recent engagements in Parliament, Carla Lockhart MP said:

“I have been clear and consistent in my opposition to the proposed puberty blockers trial. This is not about ideology. It is about safeguarding children and preventing irreversible, life changing harm.

Children are not test subjects, and it is deeply concerning that, despite mounting evidence of harm and testimony from those affected, this trial is still being pursued.

It is absolutely vital that Northern Ireland does not blindly follow the English model. I am calling on our own Health Minister to resist any pressure to follow suit and introduce such a trial in Northern Ireland .

I recently met Keira, whose story is a powerful and deeply distressing example of what can happen when children are medicalised rather than supported. As a teenager, she was placed on puberty blockers, then testosterone, and ultimately underwent the removal of healthy body tissue. She now lives with lifelong regret, not because she was not listened to, but because the adults and institutions around her failed to question, failed to challenge and failed to protect.

Keria was not broken. She was not a problem to be fixed. She was a young person who needed time, care and compassion, not medical intervention with permanent consequences. Her childhood was taken from her, and the impact of that will stay with her for the rest of her life.

I am formally calling on the Northern Ireland Health Minister to meet with Keira and others who have lived through this journey, to hear first hand the horrendous reality of what these interventions can do. He needs to understand the real world consequences, the lives that have been altered forever and the childhoods that have been lost.

If we truly care about children, we must listen to those who have already been harmed and stop pretending there is no risk. This trial must be cancelled.

I am proud that Upper Bann and Northern Ireland, is leading the way right across the United Kingdom when it comes to signatories opposing the puberty blockers trial. That level of engagement reflects deep concern among parents, grandparents and families who simply want children protected. I would encourage people to keep signing, keep speaking out and keep making their voices heard.

Northern Ireland’s children, alongside children right across the United Kingdom, must be protected. I will continue to raise this issue with UK Ministers and here at home until safeguarding and long term wellbeing are put first.”