Why aren’t parents worried about the effects of hormones on their children.

[Sidewalksue]

3rd person I know has put on FB their daughter is now identifying as male and what a disgrace it is that they can’t access hormones and have to go through puberty.
Not one is going, all this might fuck my children for life, make them infertile, leave them with a catalogue of issues decades down the line. And what if as pre-teens they haven’t made a good decision that they can’t reverse. Maybe it’s a good idea to hang back and wait before filling my children full of unnecessary drugs.
One works in the medical profession and I am bewildered by the lack of thought past this moment in time.
How many children are going to blame their parents for wanting to give in so easily (luckily they do have to wait for hormone treatment).

Because everyone involved in giving them and advocating for them downplays, or in some cases, deliberately deny the facts that puberty blockers and cross sex hormones have any side effects whatsoever.

As someone posted, even an acknowledgment of the downsides and arguing the benefits outweigh them would be refreshing, but their isn’t. I’ve seen one prominent TRA post on Twitter she doesn’t think they cause infertility. Bonkers.

So the medically naive parents go into this decision making pathway with no clear consent or objective information presented to them.

Unless you’re in the UK now where they will need to demonstrate consent to a judge.

No idea, OP. It's terrifying.

*there isn’t.

I remember being those children’s ages and hating being a girl and having periods (I still bloody do).
Why aren’t we talking about how it’s a normal bloody emotion.

On the plus side i saw a teenage girl goth today with purple hair and massive platform boots. Her non conformity made me very happy.

Blimey the third person?
And people say it isn't trendy...

I don’t know that many people and it seems a lot to me!

I suspect this is no different than when doctors give their kids any other prescription. They assume it's best practice and the risks are understood and appropriately considered.

it is really scary - a two minute internet search on the possible long term health issues would be horrifying for most parents.

Some people seem to believe what they are told by the people who have a vested interest in medicalising children. It is a worry.

.... until the nhs is sued on mass and it hits the papers

The sensible majority have been silenced - most people believe that this is wrong but have been shut down for fear of being called a biggot. These are children they are growing up and they need protecting

@twelly

The sensible majority have been silenced - most people believe that this is wrong but have been shut down for fear of being called a biggot. These are children they are growing up and they need protecting

Yes, exactly. The parents who are against it are keeping their mouths shut.

Not one is going, all this might fuck my children for life, make them infertile, leave them with a catalogue of issues decades down the line.

I'm sure many are. Just they are doing so quietly. Maybe they are quietly getting on with supporting their child and keeping them safe until they have worked through this phase, because the parents know the backlash they will suffer if they announce their terfiness on SM. Or maybe they are simply not over-sharing attention-seekers, and they also just get on with supporting their child and keeping them safe.

I think some are worried the child will harm themselves if not given the hormones etc.

I think many parents are torn, but don't feel they can be open about their concerns. I don't know why that is. Well, I know there

When we went through ROGD in our family, impact of treatment was in the forefront of my mind. I made it clear to treating psychs that cross-sex hormones were a decision to be taken by adults, not teens. And my kids knew that was the deal. No hormones or surgery before they reached adulthood.

I don't know why more parents don't speak up in the same way.

The effects of the drugs are awful but I think this is why the suicide stats are continuously presented as (impossibly) high, to outweigh the risks.

Parents are led to believe that their child will literally die if they don't get the drugs and they are encouraged to become full believers for fear that they will alienate their child if they do not.

Whereas, if they were continuously told that the vast, vast majority of kids with gender identity issues would just grow out of it by simply going through the painful (but natural) process of puberty, they might be more prepared to not medicate the process.

Most parents probably are worried but it's not really acceptable to publicly voice those worries. Parents are constantly told they have to just support, accept and celebrate, otherwise they're transphobic, a bad parent and their child will commit suicide. Any concern is shut down with, "well it's better than a dead child".

Then there are the parents who are themselves fully immersed in trans ideology and genuinely don't question it.

I don't know which I pity more.

@GNCQ

Blimey the third person? And people say it isn't trendy...

Been a teacher for 20 years. Up until 3 years ago had never taught a transiting pupil, that year taught 1. 2 years ago we had 5 pupils across the school who were transitioning. This year there are 20.

Been a teacher for 20 years. Up until 3 years ago had never taught a transiting pupil, that year taught 1. 2 years ago we had 5 pupils across the school who were transitioning. This year there are 20.

But if you dare to point out this is social contagion, a teenage fad, you get abused.

The problem is, older TRA’s (most of whom do not transition, interestingly) bang on about “literally killing us” and “trans kids being driven to suicide”.

I do wonder if parents are terrified of losing their DC to suicide if they don’t go along with this nonsense.

Also, I wonder how many parents think their DC might be gay and would rather believe they are trans? I read somewhere a parent -on learning their DC was trans - saying, “Oh thank God! I thought they were just gay.”

As a parent of a trans identifying child I have made it absolutely clear that we won’t support medical transition while they are under 18....child had bought pills online and that’s how we found out.

@thinkingaboutLangCleg Oh yes. Would never voice that to my colleagues. Apart from one pupil however, whenever we write reports for the others we use their biological sex pronouns and names as their parents do not know.

@HermioneMakepeace

The problem is, older TRA’s (most of whom do not transition, interestingly) bang on about “literally killing us” and “trans kids being driven to suicide”.

I do wonder if parents are terrified of losing their DC to suicide if they don’t go along with this nonsense.

Also, I wonder how many parents think their DC might be gay and would rather believe they are trans? I read somewhere a parent -on learning their DC was trans - saying, “Oh thank God! I thought they were just gay.”

This is so sad. My sister in law is gay and I have many gay friends. I’m sure they would be pleased to learn that there are some people who would rather they be trans then have a different sexual orientation.

I understand that the suicide thing is scary, but it never made sense to me as an - ironically - binary choice. Hormones vs suicide. To me, I just thought, well, let's get some help (psychotherapy) for the suicidality.

Maybe parents need better info on how to treat co-morbid health conditions, like depression and anxiety.

I’m generally amazed by how willing parents are to accept medical advice with zero questioning.

To be fair it would seem a reasonable thing to do- until you realise many medical personnel are incredibly clever but don’t think outside the box.