[2nd time round]

Just curious for those of you that adopted older children, if any of your children have developed precocious puberty? Blanca, adopted at 3 1/2, and is now 7 was just diagnosed. There is no proof that being adopted, or being hispanic has led to this, but I am just curious if anyone has dealt with this? And if so, did you do the shots???? I do have 2 friends whose birth children have had this, and did the shots. Wondering if it common in adopted children ??? Any input would be appreciated.

[amyfk]

Hi,

I am not a medical professional, but I have read to the effect on these boards that internationally adopted children are more likely to have precocious puberty. As to why I dont know. I am sure others will chime in later. Everyone is just busy out and about this weekend I guess(Im at home now).
Amy K, NJ

[kerriv]

One thing I've read about this is that the rapid weight gain with the adequate nutrition when they come home leads to precocious puberty. That makes sense to me in even older kids who come home - 6,7,8 years old - because of the way estrogen is stored in fat tissue and the change in fat tissue with the weight gain many newly adopted children have. I don't know how that would affect a younger child who is diagnosed with precocious puberty several years after coming home. Other things I've read about are the hormones in meat and dairy products potentially affecting puberty in kids. Maybe that's a possible influence???

I'll be interested to see what other responses you get.

[LucyLuMyLuv]

When adopting my first daughter my son was on growth hormone and at one of our appointments I asked the endocrinologist about this. He told me that precocious puberty was more common in adotped children due to the improved nutrition and rapid weight gain and growth. He said age at time of adoption was not a factor and was seen in both children adotped as babies and those adopted older. No explanation though as to be able to predict which kids would be more likely to develop it.
My older daughter came home at 15 months old and was in the normal range for both height and weight and gained weight at the expected rate for her age. Although not precocious, at age 11 she is developing rapidly. My second daughter came home at age 6 wearing size 3T -- TINY. She grew like a weed, but at age 10 1/2 has no signs of puberty.
As for the shots, I would definitely do them if needed. If you start puberty early you also end early with the possibility of the child not reaching their full growth potential.

[susy...patience]

but dr. at adoption clinic I use is one of the ones studying this. He told me that this is very common in adopted girls -- they think for the reason mentioned earlier on boards (that body responds to better nutrition and speeds up). If you want his info to get in touch with him, PM me and I will get that info to you. He's very interested in knowing more kids and studying more kids. He told me at DD's last checkup with him that really no one is doing long term studies of internationally adopted kids.....

[guatparents2be]

i know nothing about this at all, but just a thought.... is there any chance your daughter is older than her stated age?

we have a friend whose child was referred to her as a 3 year old and after some time it became clear that she was really closer to 5, if not older.

[brink]

Both of our daughters, home at 10 1/2 and 11 years, started having periods earlier than I would have liked for their sake. One told me she had periods in Guatemala, so that would shoot that theory. The other daughter probably started not all that long after being home, seemingly too short a time frame to be directly attributed to improved nutrition. Both their ages are accurate, or at the very least, could only be a few months off, a they entered the children's home as very young toddlers. I'd read on these forums that it might have as much to do with stress levels from all the changes they go through with international adoption. That also seems to make a lot of sense, as I stilll can't imagine how these kids handle all they do, coming home as older kids. One of the doctors we sometimes use in our small town clinic said a girl won't necessarily stop growing taller at that point, but I'm not sure of the truth concerning this. Our daughter adopted domestically as a newborn started early (age 10), and at that point was about as tall as she's ever gotten (5'3"). But her birth mother is not tall, either. Still no proof either way, as nutrition and stress would have little to do with her situation, and genetics do. Our three bio daughters were not at their full adult heighth at the time they started periods in middle school. They each probably each gained, at the least, a few more inches. I don't remember our tallest bio daughter's height in 7th grade when she started, but I know she wasn't the 5'11" she is today, thank heavens! Those years are awkward enough, let alone being that tall in middle school. Judging from our own experience with our bios, I'm not certain the theory is straight across the board accurate. The fact that our Guatemalan daughters' birth mothers were 4'8" and probably not much more could have much more to do with their full heighth, but we can always hope their birth fathers were taller. Our Guatemalan son asked me awhile back if I thought his birth father was Caucasian? I said the chances are they weren't, and then realized it was because he was hoping he'd get quite a bit taller. He is taller than me at 5'6", but I'm sure would love to be the 6'3" that DH is. .

[sak9645]

Precocious puberty, while not "common", is found more often in internationally adopted children than in other children. While I'm not sure that causation has been established definitively, some people believe that the rapid "catch up" in growth that most kids have when they come home may be a trigger.

Precocious puberty does not mean "a little bit early". The girl who begins to menstruate at 9 or 10 is not considered to have precocious puberty, since it is not uncommon in some populations. However, the child who gets breast buds at five and starts periods at seven is very much outside the range of normal.

When a child has true precocious puberty, the doctor may recommend shots to stave it off for a few years. One reason, as mentioned above, is that growth tends to slow once a child reaches puberty, and you really don't want your boy or girl to have an adult height of four feet, seven inches, since our whole society is geared to people who are taller. Think of cabinets, sinks, etc. With boys, especially, height seems to matter in terms of how they will be perceived in the workplace, as potential marriage partners, etc.

However, there is also a compelling social/emotional reason. It's hard enough for a 13 year old to deal with the hormonal changes of puberty; the emotional highs and lows, the awareness of sexuality, etc. can be quite painful. A seven year old could well be traumatized.

Moreover, if the child is the only one in his/her grade who has physical development, voice changes, and so on, he/she is likely to be subject to some teasing from his/her peers.

I was lucky that my Chinese daughter did not have precocious puberty, by American standards; she was right in line with her Caucasian, homegrown schoolmates. However, our pediatrician was somewhat surprised, as she was way ahead of some of the Asian girls in his practice, both adopted and non-adopted. I believe that one reason she did NOT have true precocious puberty is that she had feeding issues when she came home, and did not go through the rapid catch up in weight and height that is common among newly adopted kids.

Sharon

[2nd time round]

Originally Posted by guatparents2be

i know nothing about this at all, but just a thought.... is there any chance your daughter is older than her stated age?

we have a friend whose child was referred to her as a 3 year old and after some time it became clear that she was really closer to 5, if not older.

I questioned this when she came at 3, because she acted older and had 6 year molars. I requested a bone scan, and it came back at her exact age. Now, because of the precocious puberty the bone scan says 11, and she is only 7. We had an MRI this am to rule out a pituitary tumor, and then they will start the shots next week. She'll have to have them once a month for 3-4 years, until her age, and bone age match. Without the shots, she would only be 4 feet something and get her period within a year.

[sak9645]

Do be aware that bone age tests and tooth studies can be very inaccurate in internationally adopted children.

Sharon