To the Editor: Arguments about the ethics of attempted growth attenuation interventions-administering high-dose estrogen to children with profound disabilities who have not yet entered puberty-are about many things, but one aspect that needs to be underscored is that they are about different conjeerures regarding the potential benefits or harms of this intervention. The purported benefits of growth attenuation intervention are predicated on the following chain of events unfolding: high-dose estrogen causes bones to reach their final length quickly, shortening their final length and thus causing children so treated to be of shorter stature. This, in turn, will supposedly make them easier to carry and care for, enable them to participate in more activities and to remain in the home setting for longer, enhance the quality and duration of their life, and thereby justify the intervention.
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