Looking at suppressing puberty for transgender kids

http://www.thecourierexpress.com/news/state/looking-at-suppressing-puberty-for-transgender-kids/article_4c08ca27-58fc-5aad-a3d3-385c3c6c12fd.html

The Courier Express/By FREDA R. SAVANA   03/12/2016

"NEW HOPE, Pa. (AP) — For transgender children and their families, knowing if and when to begin the transitioning process can be an agonizing decision fraught with physical, social and psychological concerns.

Until the past decade, transgender people had to wait until adulthood for surgery and/or hormone therapy to physically change their bodies to match their identifying gender. But today's transgender youth have new medical options that can allow them to start the process at a much younger age."

I continue to be uncomfortable with the "degree of insistence" test the doctor in the article applies. I'm concerned some kids just have stronger personalities than others, and some are so eager to please they crawl back into the closet just to save their parents some angst.

I agree, Suzi! GD often causes depression and depression usually has a good measure of "why try? I'll just fail anyway." The longer you wait for that commitment from a child the more likely that helplessness will set in.

Also "1 in 300" change their mind and "phases" last six months? For a reversible procedure the right protocol seems to me to prescribe blockers for one year while evaluating the child psychologically if they're in danger of beginning puberty. If they're "1 in 300" a years delay means nothing.