Sophie Dumas, 41, is considering freezing the eggs of her five-year-old daughter Sienna, who began puberty at just 10 months old. Sienna was diagnosed with central precocious puberty (CPP), a condition where the brain sends signals to trigger puberty earlier than usual.
Sophie, from London, said she was unaware of any health issues until a health visitor noticed Sienna had enlarged breast tissue. A GP referred them to paediatric endocrinologists, who confirmed the diagnosis.
Diagnosis and testing
‘Sienna was a happy and healthy baby,’ Sophie said. ‘The breast buds weren’t something I’d noticed before, and as babies are usually the sort of chubby that makes them that little bit more adorable, and also that she was breastfed, I didn’t think anything of her appearance as being out of the ordinary.’
The tests Sienna underwent were ‘horrible’ for the family. ‘She had what was referred to as Stim tests, which was a term I went on to dread,’ Sophie explained. ‘This involved blood tests to take a baseline to measure the LH level, the hormone that regulates puberty, then injecting her with a synthetic hormone to see how her blood hormones react over a period of different timeframes.’
‘This meant a whole day in hospital. Sienna became so stressed that she sweated the cannulas out, and one of her veins collapsed.’ Doctors then resorted to drawing blood from her heel with a pin-prick, which Sophie found ‘incredibly distressing’ for her daughter. X-rays were also carried out to test Sienna’s bone age.
Treatment and impact
A few weeks later, tests confirmed precocious puberty. Sophie said she had never heard of the condition and was left desperately researching what it meant for Sienna.
‘I found that the lack of knowledge about it very hard, and the only parents I could find to talk to were via Facebook groups for it, but even then, they were parents of seven- to eight-year-olds, so it was never relevant,’ she explained. ‘It feels very isolating, and I still have so many questions about it, mostly about how I can explain this to Sienna.’
Sienna now receives monthly injections of a hormone blocker known as a GnRH analogue to suppress puberty hormones, and has undergone an MRI to check for brain abnormalities. Without treatment, she would have progressed through puberty years before her peers.
Doctors explained that early puberty can affect final adult height because children initially grow rapidly but their growth plates can mature sooner. ‘The emotional impact this may have on Sienna could be devastating,’ Sophie said. ‘Having any sorts of differences today can lead to all sorts of bullying, isolation and mental health issues.’
Future fertility and advice
Sophie is now looking into egg freezing in case the condition affects Sienna’s fertility later in life. ‘When she was diagnosed, I was worried that she may not be able to start a family of her own one day if she wanted to, that the choice may be taken away from her,’ she admitted. ‘Hopefully, the hormone blockers will prevent this from affecting her fertility.’
Sienna has some untreatable symptoms like acne linked to her hormones and has been teased at school because classmates think she has chickenpox. ‘It makes me really sad,’ Sophie said. ‘No one wants to think of their child being upset, especially when it’s from what someone else has said to them.’
Sophie’s main concern is Sienna’s mental maturity if she were to refuse treatment early. ‘The only advice I would give to another parent who is concerned about anything, even if they think it makes them look or sound neurotic, is to seek that medical advice and even get second opinions,’ she said.
