96
posted ago by AllMostThere ago by AllMostThere +96 / -0

‘Leo was little when she wanted to become a he,’ says Natalie. ‘I thought if this was his wish, I should agree with it. Everyone said Leo was brave to come out [as transgender] and I should be proud of him.’

Thinking she was doing the best for him, Natalie took Leo to one of the best hospitals in Europe where, at 11, doctors tried to make his wish come true.

They put him on hormones to stop his body developing into womanhood, with breasts, widening hips and periods. It was the beginning of a frantic course of treatment to make him a man.

Today, the teenager is at the heart of a worldwide debate over one of the most contentious medical issues of our times: giving puberty blockers to children.

A groundbreaking investigation by the state-run television channel has revealed he is one of 13 transgender children of the 440 treated by the country’s famous Karolinska University Hospital who are known to have suffered catastrophic injuries as a result.

Their ailments include liver damage, unexplained weight gains of up to two stone, mental health problems, and — in Leo’s case — skeletal damage and a failure to grow as tall as he should.

He has spinal fractures and a condition called osteopenia, which weakens the bones, making them more liable to break. It is a disease that you often see in people aged 60 or 70 and is almost impossible to reverse.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10768707/When-Britain-wake-danger-giving-puberty-blockers-children.html