Writing What You Don't Know: The Assistants

Ok, so in the us he would likely be starting with puberty blockers, with options for starting t beginning at 16. Injectable is the most common, but it also comes as a gel and a patch.

 

okay cool, good to know!

isssss there a difference between injectable, gel, and patch?

 

There is! Here's a masterpost. Essentially, injecting is convenient because you only have to do it once every couple weeks, but the dosage isn't as steady. This can lead to mood swings and sometimes periods sneaking through. Gel and patches deliver a steadier dose, but they are a pain in the ass to deal with. The gels especially you have to be careful with, because they can rub off on pets or partners and cause problems.

I just did a talk on trans youth, so I'm Full Of Research atm :)

 

oh my gosh that's super helpful! Thanks a ton!

do you have any information on puberty blockers and how those work? are they pills? do you keep taking those when taking T? (i have so many questions haha... sorry dude)

 

It's cool, this stuff is neat :)
Puberty blockers come as monthly injections or as an implant that has to be replaced once a year. Here's some more info on them, and this page has some as well. They were originally used to prevent early puberty, but they're being used more now for trans kids who are considered too young to make their own medical choices, since they're pretty safe and totally reversible.

He would go off the blockers when he started t, I think.

The only thing with the blockers is that right now they're not covered by most insurance and they can be pretty expensive, although hopefully coverage will get better down the line.

 

sweet, super good info!! thanks so much for the help

 

I got interested in the drugs that are used to block puberty and so went searching. It looks like they act on the pituitary gland to reduce levels of luteinizing hormone/follicle-stimulating hormone, which prevents the gonads from making estrogen or testosterone, which helps to stop puberty. Pretty cool stuff!

 

I feel like i should confirm, taking puberty blockers before starting puberty would prevent the growth of breasts and prevent menstruation right? I'm dense and apparently need confirmation

 

Yup

 

okay sweet thanks for confirmation

 

That is one of the more controversial uses of them - to prevent severely disabled afab people from growing breasts or starting menstruation because it would be more difficult for their caretakers.

 

yikes. yeah i can see how that'd be controversial. interesting though. the character in question isn't disabled, he's just a teen with a supportive mom who made sure he got what he needed

 

Generally they're not used until puberty has started, because people are antsy about diagnosing trans kids until their dysphoria really gets going, so he'd have some of the beginnings of breast tissue growth probably but not a lot else.

 

Okay cool! Good to know c:
His mom is a doctor, but that probably still wouldn't affect that too much huh?

 

hello! does anyone here have experience with high intermediate/advanced ballet? would practicing five to six days a week be unusual for a dedicated high-schooler? what sort of things would someone do to warm up, and what sort of things would people do to perform--would they perform in ballet recitals, concerts, musicals, or some combination thereof? sorry if these are stupid questions!

also this is probably kind of silly, but would anyone mind describing what a romantic crush feels like to you? i don't experience them afaik, and i'm trying to write a story that features it but i think i'm floundering, heh

 

thank you so much!

 

Yeah, my high school had a show choir and they had an organized extra practice outside of school five or six days a week.

 

i was thinking he'd prrrobably have come out pretty early. (between 10 and 13) so my guess is he probably did go through some form of afab puberty?

but i'll keep this in mind!

 

yep! but it's handy to know what other people have gone through c: i'm glad for the advice