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Australian research has found that girls given oestrogen around the time of puberty to reduce their adult height may have lower fertility. Australian research has found that girls given oestrogen around the time of puberty to reduce their adult height may have lower fertility. These were women who, when they were adolescents, looked as though they were going to grow up to be very tall. Their parents and doctors, perhaps in the belief that tall women were at a marital disadvantage, wanted height-limiting treatment. And what was on offer was oestrogen, which seemed to halt bone growth. But this may have been at a cost. The researchers were able to compare quite a large number of treated women to tall women who hadn't had the treatment. There were no signs of cancer risk but it could have been too early to tell. The main finding was that the women in the oestrogen group had significantly more trouble falling pregnant. It took longer and they needed more help, although in the end they had the same chance of having a baby. The women also had a higher incidence of a painful condition called endometriosis, which itself is associated with infertility. It's another reminder that medical treatments should really be kept for medical conditions.
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