Transgender - How old is too young ?

When they are legally an adult(eighteen), because they might change there mind if they are just a kid or a teen.

 

Good question.

It's a knotty one, it really is. By the time I hit puberty I already knew I was trans. I was nine or ten when I first realised - I don't remember how old I was, but I remember the moment very clearly. In my case, transitioning at eleven would have spared me ten years of hell, but I wouldn't recommend hormones at that age. An eleven-year-old is still a child.

To bring another strand to this (I'm developing a habit of it, I do apologise), it is possible to inhibit or delay puberty, which might be a better idea. That gives people the chance to try things out and to grow up a bit before making any irreversible changes. If you think about it, it's no less horrific to allow 'the wrong puberty' to happen naturally than to induce it. Going through natural female puberty as an FtoM or through natural male puberty as an MtoF is a horrible experience, and some of these changes (particularly for an MtoF) are irreversible. I would say that there's a strong argument for pausing natural puberty in cases where there's a likelihood that a kid is transsexual. I wouldn't, however, recommend inducing the puberty of the opposite sex by giving hormones. I think it's better to wait for a few years - people hit puberty at any age from ten to twenty - until the person has had a few years to make themselves sure beyond all doubt that they are trans. If the person is still sure at sixteen/eighteen, then hormones seem appropriate. If they've decided in the interim that they're not trans after all, it's easy enough to stop blocking puberty and allow nature to get on with it.

I can see the argument for a certain degree of maturity before the use of artificial hormones, but the other side of this is the fact that it becomes much harder after puberty. This is why I feel the delaying of puberty to be such a good idea in some cases. Also, maturity doesn't necessarily come with age. I've known people who were adults at seventeen and I've known people who were still adolescent at twenty-five...it's always going to be an arbitrary division and there will always be errors. For every person who makes the wrong decision at eighteen, there will be someone who knows unequivocally at eleven and will suffer through having to wait.

I hope I've made myself clear here. I do go on, I'm sorry.

Peace,

Bunbury.

 

For hormonal treatment, I'd personnally say about whenever puberty starts around 13. I really do think something to merely lower their current hormonal levels, to give them time to think about what they are doing, while still preventing irreversible changes, may be a better idea though. I know the option I voted for, wasn't the most common here. But I personnally know the agony, of feeling uncomfortable with ones own secondary sex traits. I would likely be suicidal, if I ever had prominent irreversible traits, of either sex.

My gender identity issues, aren't so intense that I wish to have all the secondary sex traits, of the opposite sex, but had I not inherited my mothers thin fragile build, possibly significantly lower than average testosterone levels, or neutral voice from my genes, I would likely be very very very miserable right now. And knowing that some people, feel even more 'deformed' than me, I certainly do think some people should be allowed, to get hormones, to avoid feeling depressed and disfigured from possibly irreversible traits.

 

Ok....I know being co-mod of this forum that I maybe shouldnt say this, but I believe in being honest about everything.....the whole concept of hormones scares me, especially in young people, I dont know why...and Im not saying that its wrong...Im just saying that, to me , its a bit frightening.

 

OK maybe you could explain yourself a bit more, we have to remember your also a mother, so this is the view point you'll be coming from here
S

 

Oh...its just one of those silly fears , you know, the surgery part doesnt scare me at all...but the hormones do.....crazy, I know !!!!!!!!!!

 

Maybe its because Ive heard all the old horror stories about how hormones can play with ones emotional state...I wont even take them now that Im going through the menopause crap.....maybe I have a phobia of them.

 

transexuals who want to develope a more female or male body have to take hormones and have to be on them for the rest of their lives, i don't think theres another option, once someone wants surgery, but maybe somewho knows a bit more about this can enlighten me
S

 

My concerns are for the emotional state of the person as well... I guess I am just an emotional person, and I think emotional health is very important.

Doing it as a teen or younger, I think those are already times of intense emotional changes, so putting hormones on top of that makes me scared for that person.

Of course that person already has emotional issues, because of the taboos associated with the whole thing... so I really don't know.

 

it may be more emotional, if their bodies are developing in a way they really hate
S

 

Just as I think tattoos and drinking ages should be 18, I think doing anything to your body that will be permanent should wait until you are a legal adult.

 

what about the puberty arguement, some people may feel that growing body or growing breasts are permanent damage they just can't live with
S

 

It's a tough decision I think. I can totally see how that could be traumatic to go through puberty of the wrong sex. And if I had a kid that could convincingly give me that argument, I'd probably let them. But it'd be tough as a parent to give permission on something so huge. Theoretically I'd like to think it's better to wait until the mental capacity *seems more adept, as in legal age, but I can see how that may not be so on other levels.

 

As a child or teenager, you're experiencing a lot of changes, and because of that, a lot of confusion. I really don't think that hormonal treatment should start until after one turns 18, once puberty is over. Being a teenager is hard enough to deal with. Take one thing at a time!

 

i think they should live as the other sex for a few years...just to make sure...
there are alot of them that ended their lives because of that...
they didnt like it, and they couldnt go back...they didnt think it all the way through...
11 is waaaay too young...
i wouldnt mind cross-dressing at that age...
but anything else...no

 

it's best to try before going on hormones, i'm 18 and everyone suggests it's best to try to live as a girl at home for a while, and see if i really like it, that way i won't make some huge mistake, hormones can wait a bit, if you'd ask me, especially if your young and still in puberty...

 

But puberty is pretty much irreversable. Once you've gone through it, you're constantly fighting the effects of it your whole life. I know i am. If you've felt in the wrong body since the age of about 4 or 5 (The age i first knew), Then by the time you reach about 12 or 13 if you've gone all those years knowing that and never doubting it, then you'll probably feel like that forever. Although my life is still hell now, my teenage years were filled with dark and suicidal thoughts. And i KNOW one of the main reasons for that was puberty. I know when i started getting a lot of bodily and facial hair growth, i just wished i could rip the skin off myself. (I still do) And your voice breaking is another irreversable symptom of puberty. I never had to dress like a girl to "make myself believe i was one", i always knew i was.

 

I voted 18. I have a 5 year old son & I wouldn't mind at all if he felt he was really female. One time, I walked in on him painting all his finger & toenails. That just cracked me up. But I don't think that he was born the wrong gender, cuz he is such a boob freak. I wouldn't mind if he was a cross dresser of any sexual oriantation. Mainly, cuz he's my son & I'd support him no matter what. On the other hand, the guy that got me pregnant, (he's no father) is an ignorant homophobe. (among lots of other things) & seeing my son in a skirt, would just drive that guy nuts.

 

This truly is a difficult subject, teenage years can be confusing, but other times not. When you feel you are in the wrong body, and it feels completely wrong, then it can be a life or death situation for some. I was maybe 3/4 when I asked my mom when I'd turn into a boy, she told me I wouldn't and I guess I dropped it. Though as I grew older, and dressed myself, I became a tomboy and more masculine (not really in features, sadly). Around puberty was the time I started to become depressed, I took menstration in stride, and dealt with it. Up until maybe a year or two ago, I didn't know what transgender was, and I identified as a butch lesbian. But something still wasn't right, I hated the sight of my chest, and was jealous of my male peers. I would get extremely upset when someone joked about me looking/being like a guy, because I wanted to. I'm currently seeing a psychologist, and going to get an official diagnosis for my doctor to possibly start hormones.

To answer the original question, what age. It depends on the person. There was recently a 20/20 episode done on 3 transgendered children, two young mtf girls who were adorable I must say. The older of the two (they were being semi-interviewed) broke down in tears because she was so sad about it, and it made me want to cry. The last kid was the oldest in the program, and he is about 16/17, taking testosterone.
I guess it's best for hormones to be taken later in teen years, maybe while puberty is still happening. See, in order to do most of these things, taking hormones and srs, you have to see a psychologist, and be diagnosed, if your doctor is following the standards of care. Just my .02

 

I think it would be best to administer hormones after puberty.