UK Ballerinas given estrogen to stunt growth?

[Morgaine]

This article was in our local paper today. I don't know if you need to register to view it or not.
Scroll down to where it says 'These days, hormone treatments rarely used to slow girls' growth' The last 2 sentences say:

Girls rarely are treated to slow their growth anymore. "It's still done for ballerinas in the United Kingdom, but there's no published data," Lee says.

I have to say that this statement caught my eye & made me think 'Really?! Do they really do that for ballerinas in the UK?' It just seems like such an off-the-wall statement.
So, does anyone in the UK (or anywhere else) have any information to confirm or deny that ballerinas in the UK get estrogen to stop/slow their growth?

I've known several ballerinas that went on to become general dancers, none of them to my knowledge had estrogen and were all shapes and sizes.

[Stoneage Dinosaur]

"There's no published data" because it does not happen. The only reference I can find specifically to a ballerina having her growth stunted is in the article DES Given To Young "Too Tall" Girls In Appalling Medical Experiment, which occured in Australia from 1959 - 1975.

One 13 year old girl with an estimated adult height of 5 feet, 8 inches was given DES because "good evidence was produced that her prospects as a ballerina were outstanding but her estimated mature stature would have made this career impossible."

[llewtrah]

Originally Posted by Morgaine

This article was in our local paper today. I don't know if you need to register to view it or not.
Scroll down to where it says 'These days, hormone treatments rarely used to slow girls' growth' The last 2 sentences say:

I have to say that this statement caught my eye & made me think 'Really?! Do they really do that for ballerinas in the UK?' It just seems like such an off-the-wall statement.
So, does anyone in the UK (or anywhere else) have any information to confirm or deny that ballerinas in the UK get estrogen to stop/slow their growth?

Write and ask them for a cite or a retraction and tell them they are perpetuating an urban legend. The wives of a couple of colleagues were ballerinas (and moved into other types of dance) and neither had oestrogen unless you count the contraceptive pill after they reached 16 years old. It's possible some girls are getting hold of oestrogen on their own, but that sort of doping is - to the best of my knowledge - illegal here.

The paper is just hoping the UK is too far away for anyone to be able to check the veracity of the statement.

[Morgaine]

Thanks y'all! I've posted it on a ballet board that has dancers from all over the world. I'm sure they will set her straight.