Diana’s Little Corner in the Nutmeg State: A Dilemma

Saturday, July 29, 2006

A Dilemma

I am torn over this; one side of me thinks it is a great idea, the other side says Whoa.
I went to another fund raiser for Lamont yesterday and while I was there I was talking to the head of a GLBT youth and family service organization, what we were talking about has me stumped. She was saying that there is a growing consensus among doctors that to treat trans youth that they should be able to start on hormones when they want to. The Standard of Care now has them waiting until eighteen and in the mean time delaying puberty.
One side of my brain thinks that’s a great idea and if it was offered to me back when I was thirteen or fourteen I would have jump for it in a blink of an eye. My logical side of my brain is saying; that’s way too early to make such a life altering decision.
I knew that I was different back when I was five or six and many people in the GLBT community that I have talked to knew that they were different back when they were that young. I know a couple teenagers who have transitioned in school and have had no major problems transitioning. I know one of them is on hormones and I don’t know if the other two are on hormones or not.
But the question remains; is it too young to start hormones? The earlier you start the better they work. Or should they wait, delay puberty and start hormones when they are eighteen? They could still transition when they want to but just not start hormones until they are eighteen.
I don’t know....... I just don’t know.

1 comment:

Peterson Toscano7/29/06, 8:31 AM
Diana, I echo your uncertainty. I hear that starting the treatment early does wonders and helps so much in the development of the person, but what if it is started in error?

So many factors play into it--the maturity of the parents and other family members around the child, the skill of the doctor in discerning these issues (something most doctors fail at with adults), and the knowing of the child.

Each case must be taken individually I think. How can one size fit all here. Even with the adult trans community I see such a diversity of approaches--surgery (and surgeries) and no surgery, hormones and no hormones. We all have our own path, and I guess for some, it will be much clearer than others at that early age.

But I worry.
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