My DD's first boyfriend is transgender and I feel weird about it.

[Milicentbystander72]

I've always been a very liberal minded person. Supported gay rights all my life. My best friend and DN are gay. I support the rights of Trans people to live their life etc.

My dd15 has a nice group of friends (boys and girls). In that group is a Trans teen (Female to Male). He changed his name in Y8, He's totally accepted as Male at school. There are no issues. He looks completely Male and people who don't know him would never think that he'd been born female. He's a nice boy who is well liked. All good.

Except last night my DD told me she's going out with him. I've surprised myself that this has unnerved me.

My dd hasn't had a BF before. She's only ever snogged one boy before at a party. She says she's 100% straight. She says she fancies the cool older boys in Sixth Form. Has teenage celebrity crushes on boys like Tom Holland etc. So how does this work for her?

Last night I told her all was fine and just to be careful they didn't damage a friendship if they broke up etc, but I didn't make a big deal of it.

Would you find this weird if your dc said they were straight? Please be honest. I'm kind of hoping it fizzles out without any drama.

Oh OK, just realised that can be read two ways - did you mean too right it is something to do with you, or too right that it's nothing to do with you?

What do you think i meant, considering and this may be a shock, i never asked what you have in the first place. Responding to cryptic posts with responses when you are not allow to give counter argument of any kind is getting very old.

I'm not going to say what my job is but medical research is very much my strong point and for that reason I know that there are plenty of drugs on the market that have very little good evidence of effectiveness let alone "proof" that they work especially in children.

Like what? Don’t worry, I am comfortable with prescribing drugs in children too. You won’t confuse me with your superior medication knowledge.

You’ve talked a lot about this so I’m sure you’re ready to answer my question - which other powerful medications are there that are used in children, off licence, that makes their healthy bodies dysfunctional?

We are now at the "I work at Nintendo and i have so and so but you can't see it" level of discussion.

See you later.

Are you mixing me up with the other poster?
I'm not the one you were asking if they had a donated organ or not and when they refused to say you started laughing and going "oh okay" and insinuating they were making it all up as they wouldn't tell you (which is their right not to.)
So is it your business to know their medical condition and history or not?
As your posts seem to show that you think it is your business.

watchful waiting has an excellent success rate for treating the mental distress associated with gender dysphoria.

Can you explain how watchful waiting (otherwise known as doing nothing) can treat any form of distress?

What you are advocating is a distressed child being left in distress in the hope that at some point in the future, they grow out of it. Is that correct?

You’ve talked a lot about this so I’m sure you’re ready to answer my question - which other powerful medications are there that are used in children, off licence, that makes their healthy bodies dysfunctional?

Many drugs are use off license in children because they are often not tested in children. Many drugs have adverse effects in bodies that were otherwise physically healthy. An example would be antipsychotics.

I really am not buying the faux concern.

If you were concerned about the safety of off label prescribing then you would have issue with all drugs being used in this way - how come the outrage is restricted to just puberty blockers?

If you are only concerned with the safety and we'll being of children being encouraged to trans before adulthood then why all the sneery and judgemental comments that have zero to do with safety or concern for the individual?

Many drugs are use off license in children because they are often not tested in children. Many drugs have adverse effects in bodies that were otherwise physically healthy. An example would be antipsychotics.

Which antipsychotics? Risperidone is the most widely used in Australia and it’s on PBS for “severe behavioural disturbances associated with autism”.

If you were concerned about the safety of off label prescribing then you would have issue with all drugs being used in this way - how come the outrage is restricted to just puberty blockers?

Like what? Why other drugs are used “off label” like this in children?

My DS body is perfectly healthy but his brain isn't. He has both epilepsy and ADHD both treated with drugs that have undergone rigorous RCTs.

And the use of drugs in the management of ADHD was initially, and still is in some areas, quite controversial isn't it? Quite a lot of professionals consider it a condition that requires behaviour management rather than medication.

How would you feel if people started judging the drs prescribing ritalin, calling for it to be banned and for the children to receive psychiatric treatment until they grew out of it? I think many parents would be outraged that their child was denied a drug that could help them and could reduce the impact of their condition, yet you want to remove the same opportunity from other children because you don't "agree" with their condition?

Like what? Why other drugs are used “off label” like this in children?

Quite a lot of drugs aren't tested on children are they? So what data is available on their safety?

And the use of drugs in the management of ADHD was initially, and still is in some areas, quite controversial isn't it? Quite a lot of professionals consider it a condition that requires behaviour management rather than medication.

And yet, Ritalin has been extensively studied in the use of treatment for ADHD, it’s efficacy rate (85%, in case you’re infested) and common and less common side-effects are extremely well documented. there are studies looking into its efficacy in ADHD. It’s licensed for use in ADHD. There’s enough data that parents can make an informed decision about its use.

Yet there’s no evidence that puberty blockers work for gender dysphoria but that’s ok with you?

Quite a lot of drugs aren't tested on children are they? So what data is available on their safety?

Puberty blockers are licensed for children with precious puberty. They are used off-licence for gender dysphoria and there is no evidence that they work. Are you ok with that?

Taken from Medicines For Children website

Why is use of medicines for children often unlicensed?
To get a licence to promote the use of a medicine in children, the drug company has to do clinical trials involving children. There are steps in place to help make this happen but it can be very difficult, especially when the illness is rare.

In many cases, doctors have to choose a medicine that is unlicensed for your child.

Which antipsychotics? Risperidone is the most widely used in Australia and it’s on PBS for “severe behavioural disturbances associated with autism”.

www.spectrumnews.org/news/children-autism-bear-brunt-antipsychotic-drugs/

jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/2717966

nolongersurprised

Now that Ritalin has been in widespread use there is data available but there wasn't when it first became widespread and the controversy around its use continues.

Puberty blockers are licensed for children with precious puberty. They are used off-licence for gender dysphoria and there is no evidence that they work. Are you ok with that?

I'm ok with drs working in accordance with off label prescribing or with prescribing off licence. That is a matter between the Dr, patient and the regulatory authority as far as I am concerned.

Antipsychotic drugs such as Risperidone have very serious side-effects but they are licensed for use for ASD in Australia.

Recent studies have linked ongoing use with an increased risk of developing type 1 diabetes, as well as the profound weight gain and metabolic disturbances. They are powerful medications to be used cautiously.

The side-effects are known though and they are used fairly commonly in those settings and they are not used off licence.

Next example?

Next example?

See above. Also www.england.nhs.uk/2015/07/urgent-pledge/

I'm ok with drs working in accordance with off label prescribing or with prescribing off licence. That is a matter between the Dr, patient and the regulatory authority as far as I am concerned.

You may be ok with puberty blockers used in children for gender dysphoria but I’m not. And so are an increasingly vocal group of Australian doctors including paediatricians and psychiatrists.

Puberty blockers have long-standing adverse effects on bone and cognitive development and they keep a child in a suspended nearly-pre pubertal state.

And, most importantly, there’s no evidence that they work. Where are the studies?

Are you ok using powerful, off-licence medication on children without research to back it up? How would you justify this to children who have received it and have doubts about it at 25?

Some doctors said it was ok (some didn’t but they were transphobes).

There was no research to support but t’internet said it was a good idea?

At three you decided you were a girl so in spite of penis and testicles I agreed because of clothes and toys?

woodchuck which antipsychotic drugs for children are widely being used off licence?

One of the reports, authored by Public Health England, estimates that up to 35,000 adults with a learning disability are being prescribed an antipsychotic, an antidepressant or both without appropriate clinical justification.

Woodchuck you’re talking about adults here, not children

How would you justify this to children who have received it and have doubts about it at 25?

That would be for the drs concerned to have to justify it to the patient.

I'm not present in these consultations. I know the discussions that I have with my drs about my health conditions and I certainly don't want to know that there is a drug out there that could possibly help me but the Dr can't prescribe it to me because some random people have decided that they don't agree/believe in the condition that I have.

There might well be many children that have had medical treatment administered to them in what was considered to be their best interest who, in adulthood disagree. Children that have had chemo for example or extensive surgeries that have serious on going side effects as adults might decide at 25 that they would not have consented had they been old enough.

Circumcision is a prime example. Still routinely done though despite many men expressing profound dismay as adults.

Woodchuck you’re talking about adults here, not children

They are prescribed for children as well as adults as demonstrated in the other two links.

They are prescribed for children as well as adults as demonstrated in the other two links.

And in Australia, anitipsychotic medications are prescribed for children with psychosis and for children with severe behavioural disturbances associated with ASD. These are not prescribed off-licence and their effects and side-effects (myriads of them) are well described).

Next?

and I certainly don't want to know that there is a drug out there that could possibly help me

Where are you getting the impression from that puberty blockers help gender dysphoric children? Because that’s literally why Australian doctors are objecting now - there doesn’t seem to be any.