A former patient of so-called "gender-affirming care" reflects on her deeply personal journey and the lasting physical and emotional consequences. She shares her experience to shed light on the irreversible damage caused by these medical interventions and calls upon President-elect Trump to take decisive action to protect vulnerable youth.
At just 16, grappling with trauma and depression, she was led to believe that gender transition was the only solution. Influenced by online activists and healthcare professionals, she embarked on a path that included testosterone therapy and a double mastectomy by age 18. Nearly a decade later, she continues to endure the debilitating physical repercussions of these procedures.
Her story, initially shared as part of the Independent Women's Forum's "Identity Crisis" series, exemplifies the often-ignored narratives of detransitioners. These individuals challenge the prevailing narrative surrounding gender medicine, highlighting the permanence of "gender-affirming" treatments and emphasizing that they fail to address the underlying mental health challenges often present in gender-questioning youth.
With President-elect Trump's return to the White House and his commitment to addressing this issue, she expresses renewed hope. She urges him to repeal President Biden's executive order promoting expanded access to these interventions, arguing that such access only leads to more detransitioners and lifelong suffering. She emphasizes the need to protect vulnerable individuals, especially children, from potentially harmful medical practices.
She also calls on Trump to direct the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to encourage medical organizations to move away from "gender-affirming care" entirely, contrasting this approach with the Biden administration's pressure on the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) to remove age limit guidelines from its recommendations.
Citing a report by the U.K.’s National Health Services (NHS), she underscores the lack of sufficient evidence supporting "gender-affirming care" for minors and highlights the potential for lifelong consequences. She argues that studies used to justify these interventions have been misrepresented, leading to harmful outcomes for patients.
Going beyond simply reversing existing policies, she urges President-elect Trump and Congress to enact legislation that prevents federal funding from being used to promote or pay for medical gender interventions, effectively prohibiting what she terms "child sexual mutilation" nationwide. She believes such laws could have spared her and countless others from irreversible harm.
Ultimately, she hopes her story and the stories of other detransitioners will serve as a catalyst for change, prompting action to protect vulnerable youth from potentially harmful medical practices and ideological agendas.
