The Blessed Virgin
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2022
There's a lot going here so let me sum up:
There has indeed been an explosion of off-label use of blockers like Lupron to delay puberty for gender dysphoric minors. However, while these drugs have been used for multiple conditions, it has never been used as a "just in case" band-aid the way it's being sold at gender clinics. Puberty blockers are powerful medications that have severe side effects, one of which is the onset of very early osteoperosis--if you mess with a child's production of puberty hormones, it prevents the bones from calcifying properly. I personally know someone who had to take Lupron to treat extreme endometriosis after surgery had failed; she now* has the brittle bones of an old woman. There is also more literature coming out suggesting that puberty blockers stunt the development of the patient's brain permanently.
Currently the appeal has been the alleged ability to "pause puberty" while the dysphoric youth decides whether or not to go down the medicalization path. But here's the catch: it doesn't work that way. Nearly 100% of children who go on these blockers will go on to take hormones and get surgery. I don't believe this is because we have such an amazing ability to identify "true trans kids" at 11-12. Instead, I think it's a combination of a) going through puberty fixes a majority of cases of gender dysphoria, so stopping a child from experiencing it actually solidifies their distress rather than letting them overcome it, b) the misery and psychological buy-in of taking drugs that put you through early-onset menopause drives most youth to say "heck with it, I've gone this far, I'll keep going." This same set of facts was investigated by the higher UK court when the Tavistock Center was initially sued by Keira Bell, a former patient; she won her case when the court determined puberty blockers are step one of trans-medicalization, and not just a temporary measure.
Be cautious about the puberty blockers issue.
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