Whodathunk that arresting normal physical development in a child would have lifelong consequences? Puberty blockers don't just stop pesky periods or normal goolie growth. Puberty is GOOD for humans. It's where they get big and strong and hairy and grow strong bones and teeth. https://twitter.com/MLaidlawMD/status/1338242568446824448

I always did wonder this about "puberty blockers". So they actually do stop a child becoming an adult? Growing strong bones and teeth, experiencing hormone surges (those aren't all sex hormones), continuing along the normal path of what it is to be a human being?

To use a phrase from an old fuddy-duddy like myself, puberty blockers stop you from "growing up"?

They stop you building the bone density that's going to get you through life without breaking your arm every time you bump into someone. They stop your brain working its way through its development via hormone surges into normal adult brain function.

They're not actually licensed for "puberty blocking". They're licensed for prostate cancer and chemical castration. They're used "off label" for this "puberty blocking" business.

I do wonder, have any of the parents who happily put their child on "puberty blockers" actually seen what happens to a child when they enter puberty? It's like a fecking explosion. A joyful (sometimes) awful (sometimes) necessary (all the times) chaotic (yes) explosion.

It's not just about goolies and periods. It's about hitting a sliotar off a wall with a hurl obsessively, just to work the energy off. It's about friendships that are the most intense you'll ever know. It's about learning to be and learning to occupy space. It's searingly painful

Being an adolescent- someone who's going through puberty- MEANS pain. The pain you imagine and the pain that's real. The woe you manufacture and the heartbreak that's real. It's all awful, and it's the most intense, livid time of your life.

To know there are parents who would arrest that development, cripple a child, not just in terms of sexual function and future fertility, but also in terms of bone density and physical wellness, boggles my mind.

Teenagers are AWFUL. All of them are awful. That's their job. They hate themselves and they hate each other and they hate you. That's actually their job (they need to separate from the family unit and become independent and this is the tiresome way they've evolved to do it.)

But is the solution to arrest puberty and have no more teenagers? Well, exactly. So why's your child different? Why should your child be on puberty blockers? What does that say about YOU as a parent? Are you afraid of what your child will become? If so, that's YOUR problem.

Hey, parents? Leave your kids alone. Quit with the puberty blockers. The kids will be fine.