“I feel an outsider, different to everyone else,” he said before the treatment. “People take going through puberty for granted; it’s just something that happens. For me it has just never happened.”

Lawrence has Kallmann’s syndrome, a rare condition affecting predominantly men, but also women. A small area in the brain called the hypothalamus cannot work properly causing a hormonal imbalance.

For men like Lawrence, this means his body doesn’t produce testosterone, which prevents puberty being triggered. Another characteristic of Kallmann’s syndrome is an absent sense of smell.

Having Kallmann’s syndrome can lead to extreme difficulties, especially during adolescence, when all one’s peers are going through puberty. And the consequences of delayed puberty and not becoming sexually mature naturally has a far-reaching impact on sufferers’ lives. …

“There’s no script for this, we got to see what happens and navigate a safe course to give Lawrence a level which will put him in a normal range.”  …

But mature enough or not, the opportunity to live a grown man’s life was not something Lawrence was going to let slip by.

“I’ve really missed out on two decades of life and I need to catch up.”

Editorial comment:

Kallmann’s Syndrome isn’t typically described as an intersex variation unless it’s left untreated.

Puberty is about the development of our minds and our bodies. Puberty is challenging and wonderful at the age most people commence it. It is even more challenging and wonderful late in life.

Some intersex people have serial puberties. Others of us have long, protracted ones as our hormone balance can vary considerably over time. Some of us report Peter Pan-like lives until we finally undergo puberty via HRT.

BBC News: Man, 33, seeks puberty