Accepting our loved ones for who they are is one of the most important things we can learn in life.

Recently a mother’s acceptance of her transgender daughter went viral on the Internet, and everyone was touched.

But acceptance is not the only thing the video shows.

Erica, mother of 14 year old Corey Maison, gave her daughter her first dose of sex hormones.

And this is terrifying, but major media outlets like ABC News and Buzzfeed chose to portray it as something cute.

What do we know about hormones?

Little information is available regarding the side effects of sex hormones on teenagers.

The lack of reliable data has to do with the fact that until 2007 hormones were prescribed exclusively to adults.

When asked about risks, even the most experienced physicians say “We don’t know.”

What we do know is that, according to the United States Endocrine Society, cross-gender hormones should not be used under the age of 16.

But this is something many physicians and parents choose to ignore, giving them to children as young as 12.

Other kids are given hormone blockers.

These delay puberty, and seem to have a reversible effect that will allow a person to wait until an older age before deciding whether to take sex hormones.

These are prescribed to children as young as 9.

Dr. Kenneth Zucker, head of the Gender Identity Service in the Child, Youth, and Family Program, believes giving hormone blockers to children younger than 13 is too early.

His concern does not seem to be often taken into account.

What does it mean to take sex hormones at 14?

14 year old kids are not considered mature enough to make informed decisions on most aspects of their lives.

They can not drive, drink, vote, drop out of school, get married, and work full time.

They are not even allowed to refuse medical treatment, as they are not considered capable of evaluating medical options and understanding the nature of their decision. While all transgender adults experienced gender dysphoria as kids, not all kids with gender dysphoria will grow up to be transgender adults.

Corey Maison’s mother is approving a therapy that is not vital nor urgent, and that her child is not considered capable of understanding.

Sure, they are both happy now, but what about the future?

Some of the general side effects of hormone therapy are memory problems, depression, blood clots, bone thinning, infertility, and risk of earlier heart attack.

Even the thickening and shrinking of certain areas of the brain. It has been observed that the longer a person takes hormones, the higher is the risk to suffer from one of these side effects.

For intersex people -who are born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that presents both female and male characteristics- hormone therapy before puberty is often necessary and even life saving.

On the other hand transgender people -who do not identify with their biological sex, and do not present any of the physical traits of the gender they identify with- choose to start hormone therapy before puberty for aesthetic reasons.

Most parents won’t even listen to a 14 year old begging for a tattoo, because it’s a decision with long term consequences.

Truth is, teenagers are not that great at considering long therm consequences.

Easy fixes. “There’s a pill for that!”

Feeling sad? There’s a pill for that!

Having troubles concentrating? There’s a pill for that!

Life is making you anxious? There’s a pill for that!

Troubles falling asleep? There’s a pill for that!

Want to be a girl? There’s a pill for that, too!

Why? Because we are terrified of complexity.

Complexity is upsetting, and today it seems as if feeling upset was everyone’s worse nightmare.

The reason why Corey Maison’s mother gave her hormones is not because she is a monster who does not care about the risks. It is because she believes upsetting her kid would be more damaging than anything else.

And this is possibly the most terrifying aspect of the entire situation.

The video shows Corey receiving the package of hormones as if it was the end to all of her problems.

It may be just the beginning.

Hormones are not an easy fix, they should not be treated as such.

We are not talking about magic powder, we are talking about messing with a person’s otherwise healthy endocrine system.

But that is nothing you would know from reading about the video on Buzzfeed, or the Daily Mail.

They probably did not want to unintentionally upset someone by telling the truth.