Puberty Suppression

For transgender adults, medical interventions that help develop the physical characteristics of their experienced gender are the acknowledged and increasingly widely accepted effective choice of treatment. With regard to young [Page 1381]transgender adolescents, there has been more reluctance to provide treatment with irreversible effects at a young age. Puberty suppression, however, with only reversible effects, has now become part of the clinical management protocols for transgender adolescents. It provides them with time and rest to make more definite decisions regarding gender reassignment, without the distress resulting from the development of puberty characteristics that are incongruent to their experienced gender identities. Dilemmas and concerns still exist concerning gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogs (GnRHa) for transgender adolescents. Despite this, there is now limited evidence that an approach that includes ...