Pregnant transmen shouldn’t be pressured to stop taking testosterone despite the risks it poses to babies, researchers have controversially claimed in a Government-funded study.
Current maternity care guidance for transmen — biological women who identify as the opposite gender — recommends they stop hormone treatment in pregnancy.
The NHS warns it could ‘affect the baby’s development’, with some studies linking exposure to the male sex hormone in the womb to genital abnormalities.
Testosterone is listed as a ‘category X’ substance in pregnancy in the US because of the dangers it poses to a foetus.
But a panel of experts, including three from Britain, said the current advice centres too heavily on preventing babies from developing birth defects.
High levels of the hormone in the mother’s body have been linked to problems with genital development, a process called masculinisation.
Studies suggest this can lead to incontinence and infertility, and trigger subsequent psychological consequences later in life.