[twister_mama]

I get majorly pissed off when I hear about parents behaving so irresponsibly with their children, too. And Cheryl, as much as you would like to confront that "mother" (and I use the term loosely), I doubt it'll help the boy at all. She sounds like she'd go crazy if someone dared to suggest her parenting is "subpar." But I do hope that the authorities will get involved, at some point. I'm sure any responsible doctor or therapist will pursue that route, once they learn more details as to how in the hell something like this could've happened to such a young kid. Abuse isn't just causing physical harm to someone; it sounds to me like this child was emotionally abused/neglected/influenced from a very young, impressionable age and onward; and the results of this abuse has done serious damage. This mother needs psychological help. And so does the boy, to repair the damage his mother has caused. The smoking alone is categorized under "contributing to the delinquency of a minor." Geez, I'm just so saddened by this. Hopefully, as Mel and Anastasia has said, doctors will be able to induce a male puberty for him at some point and help him.

You guys are absolutely right; herbs can really mess someone up when taken too young, or in inappropriate doses. That's why it's advised to start off at the lowest dose, and only ramp it up a little bit at a time if you have no results after a sufficient time period has passed. This is yet another perfect example of "worst case scenario." Things like this CAN happen, if you're not careful about what you're taking, and how much. Herbs and BO are wonderful for those of us who kinda "missed out" on our own puberty, or experienced the damaging effects of pregnancy/breastfeeding, or for adult TG's (children younger than 18, or even 21, in my opinion, really should not make PERMANENT, life-altering decisions, as their brains cannot fully comprehend the enormity of such decisions before that age, and they may live to regret it; yeah, I'm speaking from experience - though not gender-related!). Sorry for my ranting! This kind of subject gets me worked up, too.