Late puberty or is there an issue?

[NCBeePollen]

My oldest son turns 15 in the next month and he’s still not had any bodily changes, he’s 5ft 1 and whilst I’ve never had a problem with him behavioural-wise, he does seem quite naive and still very happy-go-lucky, which is great he is happy of course, I do worry it lets people take advantage of him easily. He’s starting to ask me questions and is worrying about puberty and being honest I am a bit secretly too. I’m a single mum and I have another son who’s 12 who also hasn’t yet but that’s to be expected from what I’ve read. I didn’t get my period until I was roughly 13 which seemed later so could it be hereditary?

He probably is just a late developer but you must see a GP and get him referred to endocrinology for hormone blood tests etc. If it turns out that he is one of the small minority who have hypogonadism, he will need medical intervention as early as possible.

If he really is showing no signs of puberty at the age of 15 then you need to start investigating if there is a reason or not. Get a gp appointment.

If no signs of puberty over age 15 then needs to be checked for a medical cause. The first sign in boys is testicle enlargement. It's important to discuss with him that the doctor at GP (and potentially a hospital appointment) will need to examine him fully, including his genitals.

My son was the same at 15 and he was referred for testing, it was embarrassing for him. However they told him he would hit puberty within the next few months and that he would more than likely be very tall. He is 23 now 6ft 1 so he got there in the end.