Drug injection delays puberty

Friday, April 22, 2011 by: Jonathan Benson, staff writer
Tags: puberty, drugs, health news

(NaturalNews) Children with supposed "Gender Identity Disorder" (GID), a rare condition involving sexual confusion, that are having a hard time deciding whether they want to be male or female can now choose to artificially delay puberty while they figure it out. A recent report in The Telegraph explains that a monthly drug injection will prevent sexual development in children to give them more time to make up their minds about having a sex change -- and kids as young as 12 are eligible to receive it.

Puberty-blocking drugs for young children have been available in the US for several years, but they are just now emerging in the UK for childrenSupporters say the drugs prevent the maturation of sexual organs so that, if a child chooses to undergo a sex change, the surgery will be less involved. But critics say the practice is a horrific to natural childhood development, and that sexual manipulation is an abuse against humanity.

Previously, British doctors were prohibited from prescribing the drug to children under age 16. But the UK National Research Ethics Service (NRES), a group that "protects the rights, safety, dignity and well-being of research participants," has decided to give exclusive approval to one London hospital to perform the procedure on 12-year-olds.

The long-term effects of the drug are uncertain. While proponents say the hormone manipulators stop interfering once treatment ends, others worry that deliberately altering hormone levels during the crucial developmental years can cause permanent damage.

"Do we know what the impact of such heavy hormonal interference will be on the health of these young people?" asked bioethicist Wesley Smith a few years ago when an international medical organization began pushing the treatment on young children. "If not, doesn't this border on unethical human experimentation?"

Sources for this story include:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews...

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/archive/ldn...