healthcare

Depending on how old you are, where you live, and the specifics of your situation, you may start with “blockers,” also called puberty blockers or puberty inhibitors (or, more formally, GnRH agonists). These drugs do pretty much exactly what it sounds like they do: they block the release of hormones from the pituitary gland, thus putting a pause on puberty.

If you’re a little older, or you feel confident and ready to transition after being on blockers and your doctor thinks it’s reasonable to do so, you may start taking estrogen and an androgen blocker if your body would otherwise naturally produce testosterone. You may hear estrogen referred to as a “feminizing hormone” or “female hormone,” which is a term I dislike because you may not necessarily be taking it to achieve a “feminine” body if you’re nonbinary or otherwise gender nonconforming, and lots of people who aren’t women produce estrogen naturally. You can just call it estrogen!

If your body is longing to pump out some estrogen and you’d rather it didn’t, your doctor will start you on testosterone therapy. Estrogen blockers are also available, but they aren’t widely used — usually your testosterone will be enough to do the trick. You may also hear testosterone discussed as a “masculinizing” or “male” hormone, but it doesn’t have to be either of those things for you unless you want it to be.

After social transition, many people face the question of whether they also want to pursue medical (hormones) and/or surgical transition. In this post, we’ll be discussing hormones — our following post will delve into the nitty gritty details of “the surgery” (starting with the fact that there’s not just one).

First off, let’s get one thing very clear: having sex or masturbating does not cause any changes to your body. (We have written about this before, and will likely have to keep reiterating it until I retire/the internet explodes/the sun goes out and all life on earth is destroyed.) There is no test…

Young people sometimes feel uncomfortable talking with parents and guardians about contraception.

Going away to school can present some new sexual challenges. Here’s a get-you-started guide to grow on.

Dear Scarleteener, congratulations on being such an active participant in your own health care, and for doing your best to take care of both your physical and emotional well-being. That can be hard to do, particularly when life and school get crazy (as they tend to). I’m hoping that the gynecologist…

Given when you had your abortion, you’re right: you would not have been anything even remotely close to fully dilated. Your provider would have dilated your cervix to some degree, but only as much as is needed for aspiration, which is nothing close to what is needed for childbirth. At 10 weeks, a…

You’re right, some antibiotics can interfere with hormonal birth control. Amoxicillin is noted as one of those antibiotics. It might cause your birth control to be less effective, so you’ll want to make sure to use a backup method during any sexual contact until you start your next cycle of pills…