Brazil prohibits hormone therapy for transgender minors

[Lori Dee]

Brazil prohibits hormone therapy for transgender minors
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Buenos Aires Times - 16 Apr 2025, 18:22

Brazil on Wednesday raised the legal age for transgender people to receive hormone therapy from 16 to 18, becoming the latest country to deny the treatment to minors who do not recognise their birth gender.

Brazil's CFM medicines council had authorised the therapy for people 16 and older in 2019, but on Wednesday published a resolution saying hormone treatment will henceforth be "prohibited before the age of 18."

It also banned the prescription of puberty blockers for "children or adolescents" with gender dysphoria, which is when a person's gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth.

The CFM raised the minimum age for sexual reassignment surgery "that involves a potentially sterilising effect" from 18 to 21 years.

Several bills seeking to impose prison sentences on doctors providing hormone treatment to minors are under review in the Brazilian Congress, which has a conservative majority.

Supporters of hormone therapy argue it alleviates the suffering of minors with gender dysphoria by allowing their bodies to develop in line with their gender identity. But it is the subject of growing scientific and legal debate in many countries.

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