Growth Hormones for 12 yr old DS: Yes or No???

anon for this

Wed, Nov 16 2011, 11:44 pm

shirachadasha wrote:

Many short children don't have a biologic gh deficiency and therefore insurance won't pay.

If a short child is growth hormone deficient or has certain other medical conditions, many insurance companies will cover GH. If not, and the child is off the growth charts, some insurance companies will still cover GH, but it's harder to get coverage.

amother

Wed, Nov 16 2011, 11:51 pm

I have a male relative that is the tiniest man I've ever seen. He married the tiniest woman I've ever seen. She was his only shidduch option as far as I know because he's so short. A very short man has limited shidduch choices. I also think it's important for a man to feel capable, like he could protect his family. I don't think my relative has any such ideas. I'm not a man so I can't tell you how that affects his self esteem but I know my dh would feel miserable if he needed help from ladies to reach the shelves at the grocery store.

amother

Wed, Nov 16 2011, 11:57 pm

My boss is about 5' 2". Everyone I know has a lot of respect for him. I've asked him if he would have wanted to be put on gh. He said that he's glad that his parents never pursued it. Also, he's very athletic even though basketball wouldn't be his ideal sport.

Culturedpearls

Thu, Nov 17 2011, 3:44 am

We had his issue with DS who's now 22. His hormonal level was fine so we obviously did not give hormones.
However, according to X-rays he was supposed to get to 5'3 & reached 5'6.
He was one of the oldest in his grade & the shortest.
There is so much drug testing done on any new treatment that I wouldn't hesitate to give if he's proven to be deficient.
Oh and to everyone who says to let him be happy the way he is, try making a shidduch for a short boy!

FranticFrummie

Thu, Nov 17 2011, 3:50 am

If the guys all get taller, who are all the really short girls going to marry? No one wants to be staring at her DH's belt buckle when she stands next to him!

My DD is very tiny for her age, but her ped says that she's proportionate, and he's not worried about her. She's in third grade, and strangers often ask her if she's excited to be starting kindergarten! She's been wearing the same size clothes for the past three years, and has only grown one inch. Her half brother just turned TWO, and he's only 8 pounds lighter than she is. shock

If there's a shidduch crisis going on, don't you think these short guys are going to be happy to have their pick of all these petite girls? I doubt my daughter is going to end up with someone who's 6 feet tall (but then again, you never know.)

Culturedpearls

Thu, Nov 17 2011, 4:42 am

Girls who are 5'2 want a guy 5'8-5'10, trust me DS is in shidduchim.
And girls who are 5'6 definately want taller. Then there's a whole pool of great girls who are 5'7 and over who are just not in the picture.
Its also really hurtful when all your younger sibs are taller than you even your just bar mitzva brother. Our son happened to meet a woman who was looking into him a few weeks earlier for her DD, when she heard his last name she wanted to know if he had an older brother.
Believe me it's no picnic being short for a guy, just ask any short guy if he wishes he was taller.

amother

Thu, Nov 17 2011, 9:06 am

I have a relative that is tiny, under 5 feet, very thin, and had no problem having babies. She had them all naturally, without c sections, and she has almost a dozen!

sarahd

Thu, Nov 17 2011, 9:20 am

Hey, my grandmother was around 4'10" when she stood on her tiptoes and had nine children. I guess with no problem, because I doubt c/sections were available in the town she lived in preWWII. I really don't think height has anything to do with ability to bear children. The width of the pelvis, maybe, but not height and not overall thinness or lack of it.

Chayalle

Thu, Nov 17 2011, 10:43 am

And when you are a girl of 12, and your daycamp goes on a trip to the local amusement park and you find out that you don't meet the height requirements for any of the rides, and they direct you to the little kiddie park in the corner....you feel especially grateful for a terrific group of friends who think this is hilarious and they all hop on the little train ride with you, and your all ride the little boats on the water, and then you all head over to the game area, and play some darts, and you pool all the prize tickets and all of you come home with wacky multi-colored scrunchies for your pony tails.

See, it's all in the attitude, and the support you get.

I full believe that you can teach a child to have confidence and self-esteem, and make the best of their height. But if my child was GH deficient, I'd use the hormones. It's like any other condition - you do what's recommended to try to maximize your potential - including growth.

CherryBerry

Thu, Nov 17 2011, 8:47 pm

I'm 5'3 and dh is 5'7.
my 9 yr old son is in the 1% for height and weight. he's shorter than his entire class and the class under him. I took him to see an endicrinologist b/c I was concerned that if there was some deficiency I wanted to treat it with GH before puberty. the specialist said typically kids who need hormones are short and fat, short and skinny is proportionate and he'll just be small for his age. after the bone xray, and exam she said he's growing exactly on schedule. his projected height is 5' 4.

GH isnt a magic pill that makes you taller. It is only helpful when a person has a deficiency.

amother

Thu, Nov 17 2011, 9:34 pm

I'm OP, just updating, in case this info is helpful to anyone else looking into GH.

Thanks, everyone for the helpful info; this was such an unfamiliar topic for me.

My pediatrician said that my DS's igf/1 - a precursor of growth hormone is 107. Normal range is 109-368 is range. So we have an appointment with a pediatric endo in 2 weeks. He said that actual growth hormone can only be measured in a hospital, and we haven't done that yet.

I forgot his height, but he's under 5% for height. He's been getting a little bit chubby his belly area in the past year. When I got him a suit for Rosh Hashana, I had a hard time- the husky suits were too bit and the regular suits were too tight! (I finally found a regular suit that the tailor let out a bit. the husky ones were too big over his shoulders, that's much harder to take in.)