Yes - excellent points. I think most of us have no idea what's happening with these kids. I know one of them who grew up in a very traditional family, but also perhaps wanted to rebel against it (as do so many teenagers) and in any event didn't like being a girl. So she did study the options rather closely (it seems), and tells me the the decision of a sex change to a man at the legal age of 18 was one she made after careful consideration, and while knowning that the treatments for this would also shorten her life by 10 or 20 years. I think she was required to see a psychiatrist before the operation, which she had to pay 10 or 20 thousand for. Now the grumpy teenager I knew is - she says - very happy as a man, adn I can see that she's in any event much more comfortable and confident than she was before. My view is that there should be more psychiatric work ahead of this decision, and time away from home, as well as the earliest age limit being 21, rather than 18. I am not sure she/he made the best decision, even if he does think this. This is a very smart kid, I think, and I am impressed that he's had a girlfriend since the time of the transition. I don't like any of it, but this person's life seems to have improved for the time being. I hope it lasts.