ABSTRACT
As a treatment for gender dysphoria in adolescents, gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) is now commonly prescribed to suppress puberty from the age of 12 or younger. Puberty suppression is also central to the transgender imaginary as an endocrinological intervention that promises a more complete transformation of sexual characteristics. This chapter investigates the technology of puberty suppression, not just comprising a specific drug but also a discourse that justifies its usage. The chapter examines the origin of puberty blockers in the Netherlands in the 1990s, scrutinising the rationale for this intervention. It then traces the subsequent adoption of this Dutch protocol in the United States and Britain down to the 2010s. The chapter concludes by evaluating recent evidence for the outcomes of puberty suppression.
