Grateful child draws a picture to thank surgeon for mastectomy **MNHQ content warning for upsetting image*

Well yeah, in this case maybe there's a strong case for saying that person is not mentally developed and perhaps never will be fully. Which is a tragedy if so.
It's interesting what you say about drawings as an indicator of certain things. I'm not an expert by any means, but I can imagine if it was on something like a criminology programme where they consult people and ask them to analyse, they'd have an absolute field day with that one. Not to mention the doctor proudly posting it on Instagram.

Perhaps I'm just old fashioned. But I will say this, I was absolutely desperate for breasts as a teen being flat chested. I remember being jealous a girl in my year got them on the NHS.
Anyway, a couple of decades of sports, trying to fit into wet suits and sexual harassment make me really glad I was unable to get that surgery at 16+.
What I am saying is, like anyone under 25 I was a bit of an idiot and had no idea about consequences.
I also do tend to think people wanting surgery actually is a symptom of poor self esteem, which is why they're never done.

How about we give people, teens etc. Some real mental health support, coupled with less objectifying in the media instead of quick fix surgery.

On the drawing, in early years drawings are the biggest indicator of mental ability. That drawing looks as though it's been done by the average 10 -11 year old. I don't think this is a coincidence that that's the age before puberty for most children.

Although I will say that 18 seems too young. The brain doesn't finish maturing until something like mid twenties I think?

I mean, I don't agree, but I you're entitled to your opinion.

I have no problem with someone doing this as an actual mature adult if they understand all the potential consequences
Is it ok that I think lopping off healthy body parts should only be done if there's an acute medical need. I
Eg Hereditary breast cancer or if someone's breasts are so large after diet that they cause acute pain?

Or is that just terribly transphobic of me?

Flapjak, not sure why your post was deleted but you are not wrong, there are surgeons who view it as 'just' cosmetic surgery.
See eg the Canadian guys who pose with buckets of breast tissue

thepostmillennial.com/young-canadians-are-being-sold-gender-affirming-top-surgery-on-instagram/

'[McEvenue] says, “Believe it or not, when a patient wanted top surgery five or ten years ago, they had to go to a psychiatrist to get diagnosed.” (Here he grins, presumably at the craziness of the very idea that a woman wanting to lop her breasts off might benefit from sorting through her motives with a mental health expert). He continues, “If a woman comes to me for breast augmentation, I don’t make her go to a psychiatrist. I say, okay, are you an adult? Do you understand the surgery?” (laughter, applause. This audience really really wants to believe that top surgery on teenage girls is no big deal.)'

@tellmewhentheLangshiplandscoz I think it's the difference between a nose job and having your healthy nose entirely removed tbh. Like, a 16 year old (say) having a boob job wouldn't be great, but this is so much worse than that.
I should say I have no problem with someone doing this as an actual mature adult if they understand all the potential consequences etc. But to do it to someone in any way mentally vulnerable is just really upsetting.

There really really needs to be some decent research into the effects of puberty blockers. There's no way that picture is the work of a psychologically normal adult (sorry if that sounds offensive but it's just not).

Baby it's messed up isn't it?

And actually, thinking back to comparisons to a nose job or tummy tuck - yes they have in common that part of the body causing distress to the individual on a psychological level but I can't articulate why it's way, way worse. I just know it is > not helpful I know

FFS! And here's me saving like mad to get a symmetry mastectomy as my trust won't pay for it, despite having a flat side and a 42DD on the other, along with constant back pain from the unbalanced weight. Maybe I should transition?

The drawing is quite good actually and I suspect that the person would've been over 18.

Frankly though it's fucking disturbing and heartbreaking that someone should hate themselves so much. I feel for them I really do.

Not so much the dude making big bucks from it.

Is there evidence that puberty blockers in childhood followed by opposite sex hormones produces the same maturation of the brain as the natural processes at the appropriate time?

I don't believe proper research has been done. Performing such research on humans would be unethical.

There has been research on sheep, which I believe was referenced in the Keira Bell case. Thread on the subject by Malcolm Clark:

threadreaderapp.com/thread/1317539496464875520.html

With this they could test the ability of the sheep to remember their way through the maze to get the reward of food. Even after puberty blockers were stopped and obvious physical effects had 'reversed'...the memory of the sheep was impaired.

What the researchers also found was that GnRA seeped into unlikely places and organs througout the young animals' bodies. The idea that GnRH is some discrete magic bullet that only switches off the growth of secondary sex characteristics is absurd.

I was talking to my dd yesterday about periods and she said to me, you know you can take tablets (puberty blockers) now so you don't get periods? She has sensory issues and hates blood, i could see a gleam of hope in her eye and it made me so sad. There are two girls in her class and they seem to talk about nothing else only trans and binary stuff. They are only 10 and they are obsessed with this stuff. I am so sick of it.

Yes, it seems obvious that if 'puberty blockers' block physical development, then they also block the very important mental development that happens during puberty. Which means, as Datun says, that you could have adults who actually have a mental age of a pre-teen.

I mean, what the fuck?

Wowzers!

I agree - the fact that this person has drawn a picture to say thank you suggests either very young or a cognitive developmental issue? It's just not something you would really do is it?

Does anyone know if 'top surgery' mastectomies result in similar problems to surgery for breast cancer? I had a lumpectomy over 3 years ago and the movement in that arm is still not quite as good as my other arm and I am really active, so I can imagine a full mastectomy also comes with problems. Or is that movement problem more to do with removal of lymph nodes?

If puberty blockers do what they say on the tin, surely 5 years of puberty blocking makes you an adult at 23, not 18? (Assuming best case where it is just a "pause").

If the child hasn't gone through puberty, I think it makes them still a child at 23, and possibly forever.

Is there evidence that puberty blockers in childhood followed by opposite sex hormones produces the same maturation of the brain as the natural processes at the appropriate time?

It makes it worse it's so close to home, I was stunned this is a doctor in London.

From WootMoggie's post it look as though it is legal in the UK as well, (or at least it was in 2018).

This actually made me cry. I knew l, just knew I should not have clicked this link. There are no words.

Until there is proof that puberty blockers do not also block mental maturation and emotional development, then there is still the possibility, if not the likelihood, that despite someone being of legal age, you are still talking about a person who may have the mental age of a 12-year-old.

I mean that's the whole point isn't it. That you block them maturing.

Where is the evidence, or even common sense, that says you can pick and choose which parts you are inhibiting?