What the Dutch protocol is, in plain words
The “Dutch protocol” is the world’s best-known medical route for gender-questioning teenagers. It starts with puberty-blocking drugs around age 12, then adds cross-sex hormones a few years later so the body develops the traits of the opposite sex. Surgery is offered after age 18. The goal is to give a child time to “pause” puberty while deciding whether to continue with a full medical transition.

Early start, early pressure
One young woman who followed the plan says, “I got blockers at 12 and started a low-dose testosterone then that mimicked male puberty. My family and I had been planning to do the Dutch protocol since I was pretty young.” Today, at 15, she has stopped both drugs and now lives with a deep voice and masculine face she never expected to carry so soon. – redactedchicken source [citation:2dd43582-62a2-45e5-844f-754f843e3965]

Little talk about regret
A man who had surgery through the same Amsterdam hospital reports, “Regret was not really something that was discussed… Doctors never mentioned sex-change regret… No follow-up.” When he later needed help, he was simply bounced between the gender clinic and a mental-health ward that did not know what to do with him. – Stuckinmiddleground source [citation:06d2bdcf-144c-4b22-924d-4c2c1f6ed5fa]

Inside worries
Even inside the Dutch system, staff have raised alarms. One reader recalls, “I read an article about five doctors leaving a sex-reassignment clinic in the Netherlands… because they didn’t agree with how fast gender reassignment was being pushed on patients.” – 6Bluecats source [citation:954b6c9f-2879-480e-ace2-eb38eb2a2572]

Take-away
The Dutch protocol moves quickly: blockers at 12, hormones soon after, surgery at 18, with almost no built-in brakes or long-term mental-health support. Young people who change their minds can find themselves left with altered bodies and little guidance on how to live comfortably in them again.