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Writer's picturePartners for Ethical Care

Pausing Puberty: Causing Developmental Delays in Children



Parents hear from doctors and nurses that puberty blockers, under the brand name Lupron, simply “hit the pause button on puberty, to give a child time to discern her or his ‘true identity’.”


Spoiler alert: There’s no evidence to support the claim that normal puberty restarts[1].


Lupron is the drug of choice for children with precocious (early) puberty[2], and it is prescribed to slow down the physical and psychological effects of this very rare condition, while the underlying cause of the precocious puberty is investigated and addressed. Hitting the “pause button” for a child with early puberty puts the child more in line with her or his peers and is a stringently monitored, short-term treatment course. Since no data exists on the effects of using it for longer, and the FDA explicitly states that Lupron should not be used for longer than six months[3].


But gender clinic practitioners operating within children’s hospitals tell parents of gender-confused kids that puberty blockers must be introduced if the child is approaching puberty. Overwhelmed and worried parents seek advice from medical professionals, and in that vulnerable period, parents are given limited information. Puberty blockers like Lupron do not “hit the pause button” on puberty—they cause a developmental delay.


Parents who worried that their child didn’t crawl, walk, or talk at the right time are now causing developmental delays in their children following the advice of unethical medical practitioners. Not long ago, medically inducing a developmental delay would have caught the ear of child protective services or medical malpractice attorneys.


Gender clinic practitioners claim, “Once puberty blockers are withdrawn, puberty will proceed normally.” Current research does not support this claim, and data that does exist strongly suggests that the opposite is true: a narrow window for pubertal development exists, and if it is missed, it is missed forever. Even after halting Lupron, it can take 12-18 months to resume puberty, if it happens at all. Furthermore, bone, brain, and social development is jeopardized by the use of puberty blockers, which the FDA clearly outlines[4].


Children should not be guinea pigs for the pharmaceutical industry preying on worried parents seeking evidence-based advice for their struggling children. Unethical gender clinic doctors and nurses are not fully informing parents about the risks and side effects of puberty blockers like Lupron.


If they did, they’d probably never see a prepubescent child again.


 

[2] https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/precocious-puberty/symptoms-causes/syc-20351811#:~:text=Precocious%20puberty%20is%20when%20a,it%20is%20considered%20precocious%20puberty.

[3] https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2012/019943s031,020011s038,020708s031lbl.pdf

[4] https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2012/019943s031,020011s038,020708s031lbl.pdf


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