Maybe. Except she apparently had misgivings immediately when she saw the kid had developed somewhat. I’m thinking she was immediately disgusted by N and didn’t really want her as part of the family early on.
You know I didn’t realize but precocious puberty is actually defined as occurring in girls BEFORE age 8! I thought it was before 10!
So this makes even more sense in this case as N was supposedly almost 7 when they got her.
This site gives the reasons for it:
In central precocious puberty, the puberty process starts too soon. The pattern and timing of the steps in the process are otherwise normal. For the majority of children with this condition, there's no underlying medical problem and no identifiable reason for the early puberty.
In rare cases, central precocious puberty may be caused by:
- A tumor in the brain or spinal cord (central nervous system)
- A defect in the brain present at birth, such as excess fluid buildup (hydrocephalus) or a noncancerous tumor (hamartoma)
- Radiation to the brain or spinal cord
- Injury to the brain or spinal cord
- McCune-Albright syndrome — a rare genetic disease that affects bones and skin color and causes hormonal problems
- Congenital adrenal hyperplasia — a group of genetic disorders involving abnormal hormone production by the adrenal glands
- Hypothyroidism — a condition in which the thyroid gland doesn't produce enough hormones
Peripheral precocious puberty
Estrogen or testosterone in your child's body causes this type of precocious puberty.
The less common peripheral precocious puberty occurs without the involvement of the hormone in your brain (GnRH) that normally triggers the start of puberty. Instead, the cause is release of estrogen or testosterone into the body because of problems with the ovaries, testicles, adrenal glands or pituitary gland.
In both girls and boys, the following may lead to peripheral precocious puberty:
- A tumor in the adrenal glands or in the pituitary gland that releases estrogen or testosterone
- McCune-Albright syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that affects the skin color and bones and causes hormonal problems
- Exposure to external sources of estrogen or testosterone, such as creams or ointments
Precocious puberty - Symptoms and causes
Also interesting is what precocious puberty can do to a kid:
- Short height. Children with precocious puberty may grow quickly at first and be tall, compared with their peers. But, because their bones mature more quickly than normal, they often stop growing earlier than usual. This can cause them to be shorter than average as adults. Early treatment of precocious puberty, especially when it occurs in very young children, can help them grow taller than they would without treatment.
- Social and emotional problems. Girls and boys who begin puberty long before their peers may be extremely self-conscious about the changes occurring in their bodies. This may affect self-esteem and increase the risk of depression or substance abuse.
Remember how Kristine screamed about how N “didn’t grow one inch!” Well yeah. If she had already started puberty her growth would slow a lot after that. Especially with dwarfism.
As foreign adoptees are more likely to exhibit precocious puberty than other kids (except those from South Korea for some reason), especially those who were older when adopted, I think a lot of things about this kid are adding up.
Increased risk of precocious puberty in internationally adopted children in Denmark. - PubMed - NCBI
