Parents to delay child's puberty?
Categories: Preschoolers, Kids 5-7, Kids 8-11, Teens & tweens, Health & safety, Development, In the news
If you could delay the onset of your child's puberty, would you? One set of parents is definitely considering it. Their eleven-year-old son, Armand, was born a male but was convinced that he is indeed a girl. Armand's case is not isolated. As we know from so many recent headlines, many youth from teens and tweeners to elementary and lower school aged children are questioning their gender and their identity.
Armand's parents could tell something was up from the time he was two years old when he refused to take off a Minnie Mouse dress. The problems did not go away, even when Armand was five and an in-house only rule was instated by his parents to compromise with what they didn't fully understand. Gender identity crisis obviously goes far beyond a preference for what type of clothing one wears, however. Her parents took her to many doctors and ended up with many failed attempts to diagnose the reason for his uncontrollable tantrums before settling on gender identity disorder.
Armand seemed to know what was going on the whole time, though. He'd say as much that he was a girl or that he wanted to be one. A psychologist finally uncovered the truth and told Armand's parents he would most likely grow up to be transgendered. This was a partial relief to Armand's parents, as now they knew the cause of his anger and frustration.
Then, what to do next? Armand's parents learned about the possibility of delaying his puberty to keep him from developing sexually. Monthly, hormone blockers are delivered to the child (normally aged between ten and thirteen) via injection. Around age sixteen, the then-teens are offered the option of stopping the injections to allow the onset of puberty. By that age, many of the physical attributes associated with men or women are not distinguishable in the teen, allowing those who were born female to appear more male, and vice versa.
Much controversy surrounds the treatment. Some believe at an early age children's gender identities are in a constant state of flux and that it's too hard for them to truly determine who they are or want to be as that is likely to change.
Pic of universal gender symbol by lazzarello.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Carlyn 5-19-2008 @ 11:27AM
This may be the saddest story I have ever read. This child may still be able to be saved from a lifetime of gender issues if the parents will step up and help HIM understand that HE is a B-O-Y and that he should accept that and be proud of it. Many children wish they were the opposite sex, but that doesn't mean you as a parent give in to those imaginations and temper tantrums. What if he had said, " I want to be an extra-terrestrial?" I mean, really, sometimes you just have to say NO! Obviously giving in to this child has not helped the situation, but only fed the child's ability to control his parents and demand his own will. This is not healthy; not to this degree, certainly. Furthermore, it has been admitted by doctors that even postponing puberty doesn't alleviate the problem of gender issues, and it definitely doesn't change the outcome:
boys still develop into boys and girls into girls. Only by assisting children in embracing their identities, loving the strengths/abilities which come with their particular gender, and looking forward to becoming the young men and women they were intended to become can we truly love, protect , and defend them.
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eugene 5-19-2008 @ 3:04PM
There are different levels of transgenderism or gender confusion, depending on what side of the fence you're on. Some children will say things like, "if I can't be a boy, I'll be a girl" or "today I feel like a boy/girl". For these children there may be something else going on.
However, in the case of violet, this little girl was suicdal over not being able to be who she views herself as. It wasn't just she was throwing tantrums or acting up. This child was DEEPLY disturbed over not being able to be who she knew herself to be.
Offsetting puberty along with hormone treatment can allow her body to develop in such a way that is more in line with her self image. Imagine if you suddenly started developing a deeper voice, if you started growing deep facial hair, an adam's apple.. in short, what if you woke up one day and found that your body was seemingly betraying you? How upseting, how deeply disturbing would that be?
If violet waits until sexual maturity to begin gender re-assignment, there will be some things that she just won;t be able to change. Facial features, hands, body shape that will always be underlyingly masculine... features that attract unwanted attention and possibly scorn and ridicule from people who either don't understand or don't want to.
For people like Violet, who are sure of who they are from such an early age, I think this procedure will do a lot to help them be able to reconcile their sense of self with their bodies,
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Uly 5-19-2008 @ 11:29PM
If this child identifies as a girl, the polite pronoun is "she" not he.
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