LIFE

Dear Carol,
I'm 15 and a half, and I'm worried why I haven't started my period yet. Both my mom and my doctor say it's normal. But what really worries me is that the last time I went to the doctor, he asked me how often my periods are, and I had to tell him that I still hadn't started. Sometimes I feel like a little girl with my firiends because I haven't entered into womanhood.
—No Period For Me

Dear No Period For Me,
I was a late bloomer, too. But you know what? Everyone blooms. The doctor asked you a routine question that he asks during every adolescent's check-up. Had he been more sensitive and read your chart more carefully, he might have said, "Have you started yet?" But the fact that he didn't is no reason to fret. Most American girls start at around age 12, but many get theirs earlier and later. As for how you feel with friends, womanhood isn't defined by whether you need pads or tampons. Some girls are mature physically but not mature emotionally, and others are wise and wonderful beyond their years, no matter what their pituitary glands are up to. I'm betting you'll get your period soon. 

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by GL | 8/27/2018