Just an update: Local news reported that James has returned to school dressed in boys clothing, announced his name was James, and appears to be perfectly fine. Hopefully things will calm down in his world.
I've heard the comments about "maybe the mom wanted a girl" before, so I'll say that mom already has two adopted daughters that are I think now teenagers.
I read a lengthy article not too long ago about the puberty blocking drug currently in use. Don't remember the name of it, and the story could have been opinion by the doctor writing it, so I won't link it here. The article questioned the long-term use of what was designed to be a short-term drug and the lack of adequate testing--as in what might the problems of this long-term drug use be in 10 or 20 years?
There does seem to be differing opinions on the safety of the drugs--I'll have to look to see if any studies have been done on them.