When the Answer Is: Just Give It Time

They were visiting from Seattle—just a family on vacation, not expecting to land in a hormone clinic during their trip. But when her mom called, I could hear the weight in her voice. They’d been watching their daughter fall behind for a while. A twelve-year-old girl who hadn’t started changing like her classmates. A body that still looked—and felt—eight.

They had heard it all before:
“She’s probably just small.”
“She’ll catch up eventually.”
“Let’s wait and see.”

But her mom’s gut kept whispering that something was off. So I asked, “Can you come the day before vacation starts, and again the day after? We’ll fit in the test.”

And we did.

What happened next surprised all of us: she passed.

Her growth hormone levels were strong. In fact, they were solid enough to say with full confidence: there’s nothing wrong. She was simply a late bloomer.

I watched her mom absorb that. The shift in her face when I said it wasn’t bad news, just different news. That her daughter didn’t need medication or long-term treatment. That she would grow—just not yet. We had ruled out anything scary. What she needed now was time.

But even knowing that, it didn’t feel simple. Because time can be a hard prescription to swallow—especially when your daughter is 12, heading into middle school, and watching her peers grow past her both physically and socially.

So we talked about options.

We could do nothing—and let her body take the lead, knowing she would get there in her own time.

We could gently jump-start puberty—with a short course of estrogen, just enough to help her body catch up emotionally.

Or we could support her somewhere in between.

Her parents chose a light dose—not because she needed it to grow, but to help her feel more at ease with her friends. To bridge the gap emotionally while her body naturally caught up.

That’s what I love about this work.

It’s not always about diagnosis or intervention. Sometimes, it’s about reassurance. About giving families space to breathe again. About turning years of wondering into a plan that says, “You’re okay. She’s okay. We know what’s happening now.”

And here’s the twist: late bloomers often become big bloomers.

Their growth plates stay open longer.
They grow later—and longer.
They may finish taller than anyone expected.

So yes, the clock is slower—but it’s also on their side.

This isn’t about doing nothing. It’s about knowing what you’re doing by waiting. And sometimes, that’s the most powerful thing of all.