Episode 14 - Dr. Quentin Van Meter - Natural Puberty and Healthy Development

Dr. Quentin Van Meter is a pediatric endocrinologist who gained notoriety and national prominence as head of the American College of Pediatrics, a splinter group of pediatricians who split from the mainstream American Academy of Pediatrics originally over their endorsement of same-sex parents. During the 2010s, ACPeds, under Dr. Van Meter’s leadership, were one of the initial organizations to speak out in public and in the backrooms of government to make the case against pediatric medical transition from a clinical perspective, presaging the success of the current gender critical political movement.In particular, Dr. Van Meter expressed concern about how pediatric medical transition interrupts the formative role that puberty plays not only in sexual and reproductive development, but how it is necessary for the health of nearly every organ system of the body.On our show, Dr. Van Meter, Laura, and Yvette focus less on politics, and more on the medical side. We discuss his theories on puberty, whether it is important to go through a puberty that is in alignment with one’s sex (or will any puberty do), and on the stability (or lack thereof) of childhood and adolescent gender identity.