If your daughter has had absolutely no breast development, even breast budding, by the age of thirteen, or if she has not started her menstrual periods by the time she is fifteen, she may have a developmental problem.

She probably needs to be examined by a physician. Since the variation on the onset of puberty is so great, however, your daughter's apparently delayed puberty may be totally normal.

Only 1 percent of all girls will not have started thier periods by age eighteen or will not have had at least some breast budding by the age of thirteen. Any adolescent who lacks these signs of puberty probably has a medical problem and definitely needs to be evaluated by a physician.

If your daughter has this kind of delayed puberty and your doctor continues to tell you that she is normal and does not need an examination, he or she is obviously not familiar with this type of problem.

You should find another physician who can be more helpful, an endocrinologist or a gynecologist who is interested in adolescent gynecology.