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Hi, and welcome to another episode of the Trans101 series!
Today we are going to be talking about hormone blockers.
So hormone blockers is actually a nickname that we use in the trans community
to refer to G.N.R.H wich are gonadotropin release hormones.
Yes I had to look at my paper it's a complicated word.
So basically, hormone blockers will block the hormones that the body already produces.
So if you were born with ovaries and your body naturally produces estrogen
the hormone blockers will block that.
If you were born with a penis and testicles the hormone blockers will block the testosterone
that those produce.
So hormone blockers are used usually for trans kids, okay, that's like a really basic way of talking about it.
But. It's used to suppress the hormones that the body produces naturally in order to wait and to pause puberty.
So this is a really good thing if a trans kid comes out at let say eleven years old and is like,
I'm trans I want to transition I would like to go on hormones later on.
And the parent isn't sure, like mmm this is a phase. I don't think trans people are real.
Well hormone blockers are a really great thing in this aspect. Because when you're taking hormone blockers
at that age you're literally pausing, pausing puberty.
Which mean that all of the changes of puberty that you don't want to happen because you don't want either to
develop breasts and you don't want to start your period and all these things because those are highly highly dysphoria
inducing because you identify as male and you know yourself as male
and you don't want to go through this puberty that you're mentally not supposed to go through.
Well going on hormone blockers will literally pause all of that from happening.
So hormone blockers aren't new, they've actually been used since 1971 and they're usually used for precocious puberty.
So when puberty starts way way early on. So if somebody's like 8 or 9 and starts puberty
they're going to repress the hormones in the body so that puberty doesn't happen
because that's too young to start puberty. And I'm talking about non-trans kids right now.
So if a kid starts to have puberty at like 8 or 9 and uhm that's way too early they usually
take hormone blockers in order to stop the puberty. They literally pause it and then the second that you're old
enough that your puberty that you're supposed to have at that age starts you take yourself off of hormone
blockers and it's as if you were never off or on or anything like that, it just kind of starts off where
starts on where you left off.
and this is why it's such a great option for trans kids and especially for parents who are maybe
unsure and don't really understand all of this. Starting on hormone blockers there are no negative effects.
You're literally pressing the pause button on puberty. And it gives everyone around every--
And by that i mean by that you and your kid and all these people around you some time to think
and you can see, usually, the kids are a lot happier because they know that they're not going to get the puberty
that they were supposed to have in their body that was built into them.
And instead they're able to pause and they're going - they know that eventually they'll be able to get the puberty
that they're supposed to have mentally.
So! If your kid comes out at 4 years old you don't put them on hormone blockers. No no no no.
So hormone blockers are usually given if you're at a young age when you're at a specific stage of puberty.
So puberty has 5 stages and as an adult we're at stage 5 we're at the final stage.
1 is no puberty at all, 2 is the first signs of puberty
alright and that's like breast buds starting developing stuff like that.
That is when you start hormone blockers. Because before then there are no hormones to repress, that doesn't, they're not there.
So when you start stage 2 that's when the hormones are starting you need to start blocking them so that those
breast buds don't turn into breast and you don't start menstruating and all those little aspects of puberty that start.
So you don't stay on hormone blockers forever, okay.
If you came out at 10 years old and at 11 they started you on hormone blockers the endocrine society
which is the medical establishment for endocrinology
recommends that you start hormones at 16 years old.
Now this isn't for everyone alright because everybody's body is different.
Now there are two reasons why you wouldn't start at 16.
One is if you started puberty way way way early and they put you on hormone blockers when you were like 8
and then you have to wait until you're 16 until you start testosterone or estrogen
all of that middle time is very ... it's a long period of time to not have any hormones in your body.
And not having hormones in your body and repressing those hormones can cause osteoporosis and other types of bone density issues.
So in that instance you would actually start hormones way earlier in the persons life because they started
hormone blockers a lot earlier than normally.
So the second incident is a little more complicated where if a person's puberty only
happened waaay later on. So if the person is 16 or 17 and is now only starting to have signs of puberty
first you need to test out the endocrine system and see if there's anything the--the reason why that happened
uhm and if there is something wrong or anything like that,
but usually if there is nothing wrong and it's just a delayed puberty then you would start the person on
hormones right away, so that when they enter their last year of high school or they enter college
they don't look like an 11 year old. Because when you don't have puberty and you don't have any hormones
your face kind of stays an infant. Like you look like a child. So you don't want to go into university looking
very young and very immature so that's why they would usually skip the whole hormone blocker
and just start you directly on uh hormones, because your tes--your...your testosterone or your estrogen only kicked
in way later on in life. Later on in life I mean like later on in your teens.
So do you have to stay on hormone blockers forever? Well, no you don't.
So basically what I'm focusing on right now is transgender children and teens who have
either not had puberty yet or have just started puberty.
Those are really the main people you would start on hormone blockers. But! Later on you can also
go on hormone blockers if there is something going on with any of your uhm reproductive organs and something is happening.
So I'm being very vague but I'm going to give you an example of me. I have been on hormones for over
7 years and I am also on hormone blockers. I've been on hormone blockers for 4 months and the reason for that
is because I had bleeding. Not every month, but every couple of months I was bleeding as if
it was like a menstrual cycle, but not really, and that's not supposed to happen when you're on hormones.
So I am now on ehm hormone blockers to suppress the estrogen that my ovaries are producing
because they're producing a lot of estrogen.
The testosterone that I'm taking in my body is not repressing it enough so I need something additional to
help me.
So that's why I'm taking hormone blockers at the same time.
So just to recap really quickly. This is a very very good and safe option
for the trans child or the trans teen who has just come out.
It is also a very good and safe thing for the parent who might be questioning or really unsure
or maybe doesn't believe their child. Because at least this way you're able to pause puberty.
There is a lot of emotional distress when a trans child or a trans teen starts puberty
trans teen obviously puberty teen, starts puberty because they know that the things
that are happening to their body they're not supposed to have because they know that they are not that gender.
So it is very hard emotionally and to be able to pause it and say hey you're not going to have that puberty just yet
alright we're just gonna figure some things out and if later on you want to go off of hormone blockers and
have puberty, the puberty that you were supposed to be-- like the puberty that you were born with. The natal puberty.
There natal puberty is the better term to use uhm then that's what's gonna happen.
But if everybody's on board and everybody understands that yes, my kid is trans and I understand that they need
hormones as well then you would stay on the hormone blockers then you would slowly start
on a small dose of hormone replacement therapy later on in your teens.
So even if you're unsupportive and you don't understand and your saying my kid isn't trans I don't understand this!
Please look into hormone blockers. It's literally a pause button there is nothing wrong with it.
The only issue that is associated with hormone blockers is if you're taking it for years and years and years
without any other hormone replacement in there.
Then you have issues with bone density and bone loss.
But other than that the other only side effects are if you've already had puberty before and you are now
taking hormone blockers and now you have no more puberty.
Then some stuff is gonna happen in your body because it's used to already having puberty
but if you're gonna start testosterone and hormone replacement therapy in there then it's better.
Hopefully this was informational for--for families, for friends, for allies, and for trans people who are looking
into hormone blockers. It is a very very good very good thing uhm to look into hormone blockers because
especially for trans kids and trans teens, it is a life saver!
Because the puberty that ugh I have met so many, so many trans kids who are 9 and 10
and who just are so scared that puberty is going to happen because they don't want that puberty to happen.
So being able to go hormone blockers and puberty blockers and just kind of suppress all of that is fantastic
because then...then you'll see a change in your child, honestly, your child is usually - usually more happy.
And there has been research on this I will actually put all the links that I have in the description below.
If you have any questions please let me know. And I will see you for another episode later on.
Have a great day. Bye!
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