, yet we are allowing them (with parental consent) to make chemical changes to their bodies that can have permanent side effects?
It’s about avoiding permanent changes, that change being puberty. The blockers are precisely to buy them time until they’re old enough to go all the way.
Puberty occurs naturally at staggeringly varying ages, is influenced by a gazillion of environmental factors, the body can deal with it happening earlier or later perfectly fine.
Though it has to be said that there’s some side effects not to blockers as such but late vs. early puberty, if you’re on blockers until 16 and then go off you might end up being a bit shorter than you’d otherwise turned out. Which is why, like always in medicine, intervention has to be balanced with doing nothing regarding risks vs. risks, and in the case of kids presenting trans that’s always on the side of yes they get blockers because stuff like being shorter is benign, while the increased dysphoria and everything that comes along with undergoing the wrong puberty is an absolute mind-wrecker. Suicide is a worse health outcome, you see.
IIRC the only issues with puberty blockers is bone density might be a little lower - otherwise puberty has been found to just resume as normal when you’re off.
They’re a terrible idea and will certainly cause irreversible damage to the child. Bone mineralisation in particular is just not something that can be paused. Waiting to be called a fascist in 3, 2, 1…
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It’s about avoiding permanent changes, that change being puberty. The blockers are precisely to buy them time until they’re old enough to go all the way.
Puberty occurs naturally at staggeringly varying ages, is influenced by a gazillion of environmental factors, the body can deal with it happening earlier or later perfectly fine.
Though it has to be said that there’s some side effects not to blockers as such but late vs. early puberty, if you’re on blockers until 16 and then go off you might end up being a bit shorter than you’d otherwise turned out. Which is why, like always in medicine, intervention has to be balanced with doing nothing regarding risks vs. risks, and in the case of kids presenting trans that’s always on the side of yes they get blockers because stuff like being shorter is benign, while the increased dysphoria and everything that comes along with undergoing the wrong puberty is an absolute mind-wrecker. Suicide is a worse health outcome, you see.
IIRC the only issues with puberty blockers is bone density might be a little lower - otherwise puberty has been found to just resume as normal when you’re off.
At what age should puberty be paused? Because you can’t really pause it after it happens.
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Okay.
Why do you not think there is no reverse path? Do you think blocking puberty with medication results in it being a permanent condition?
As far as looking to detransition? That is an extreme rarity on top of the original rarity of being trans in the first place.
https://apnews.com/article/transgender-treatment-regret-detransition-371e927ec6e7a24cd9c77b5371c6ba2b
0.5% adults in the U.S. are transgender. 1% of them regret transitioning. You are talking about a very, very, very small number of people.
They’re a terrible idea and will certainly cause irreversible damage to the child. Bone mineralisation in particular is just not something that can be paused. Waiting to be called a fascist in 3, 2, 1…