I have mixed feelings about this, some based on history, more on the years I spent in therapy and studying psychology, and more based on personal life experiences. A lot of it depends on the kids themselves. Are we talking about the average teen with an average IQ of 100, or are we talking about someone like myself that has scored above the 99th percentile on half a dozen IQ tests? Historically, 150 years ago the average late teen was probably already married, running their own farm or had completed an apprentice and was working a a journeyman craftsman and raising a family. Now we seem to think that kids aren’t old enough to learn to drink responsibly at 18 but they’re responsible enough to go kill for whatever the corporations currently want us to kill. Do I think it’s okay for young teens to start HRT or SRS, I would say in almost all cases no. Do I think it’s okay for them to take puberty blockers until they’re old enough and have learned enough about themselves to make a permanent decision regarding HRT and surgery, yes. Do I think parents should have the final say? Absolutely not. I think by the time a kid is 13 or 14, they have enough education and knowledge about themselves to make a decision that is reversable4 or 5 years down the road should they decide against continuing. I knew I was very different from my male peers by the time I was 6. Did I know enough when I was 14 to make a permanent decision like SRS, no. I was 14 in 1967 and I don’t think the word transgender was even in the common vocabulary at that time. I did know I hated being a male and would have preferred being a girl, but my knowledge back was limited to two different genders and two types of sexuality, hetero and homo. Granted, things have changed a lot in the last 50 years, but I still don’t think most teens are educated enough, or have had enough time to learn and understand about themselves to make that sort of permanent decision.
