Detransitioning

[BlindYeo]

I just found a really interesting account by someone called Elan Anthony who detransitioned. Perhaps it has been posted before on here but in case anyone else missed it, here's the link:

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/sep/16/transition-caused-more-problems-than-it-solved

“I’m an only child and grew up in Ohio,” he says. “When I was young, I was bullied a lot, being very bright but physically weak, which singled me out as a super-nerd and resulted in a lot of violence. I started to fantasise about being a girl from about age six because that would make me safe and take me away from my place at the bottom of the male hierarchy.”

And the page linked to another account of detransitioning by an anonymous woman. Apologies if these articles have been posted before but I find it very interesting to read about people's actual experiences and thought processes.

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/feb/03/experience-i-regret-transitioning

"Reflecting on the difference in how I was treated when people saw me as a man, I realised other women were also held back by this. I had assumed the problem was in my body. Now I saw that it wasn’t being female that was stopping me from being myself; it was society’s perpetual oppression of women. Once I realised this, I gradually came to the conclusion that I had to detransition.

"I feel happy for those people transition has helped, but I think there should be more emphasis on counselling, and that it should be seen as the last resort. Had that been the case for me, I might not have transitioned. I was so focused on trying to change my gender, I never stopped to think about what gender meant."

I feel happy for those people transition has helped, but I think there should be more emphasis on counselling, and that it should be seen as the last resort. Had that been the case for me, I might not have transitioned.

Brave and wise words. Heartbreaking that people go through this.

I have read serveral similar stories this year. The safest part is when people have been left infertile after detransitioning. It is such a drastic measure that she is absolutely right in saying that it must be a last measure.

I completely agree that medical intervention should be the last resort. BUT I don't think professionals should ever try to suppress feelings of gender dysphoria, as that can cause more harm than good.

I think it's just best to let people express themselves as they wish - within reason - and do what feels natural to them. Then, perhaps, we wouldn't have so many people feeling the need to transition completely.

Thanks, BlindYeo for those links - if they have been posted before, I've not seen them, so it was good to read.

As a post-operative MtF Transsexual I find it very interesting to read articles about de-transitioning. I'll add here that I'm perfectly satisfied with my transition and everything is going pretty good with my life post-transition. Family, friends, job - and society in general. I live successfully in my acquired gender and have no real problems due to being trans. Issues I do have are experienced by women all over the world, so I fight Feminist issues - not "trans" issues.

Anyway - there are Standards of Care when a person wishes to undertake a medical transition. Medical standards that have been proven over decades of use to ensure that errors are not made. All medical procedures have a certain "regret rate" (with perhaps the exception of Euthanasia, as the figures for "regret" tend not to be available). When I read these stories, I look for the Standards of Care and how (or whether) they were followed.

The first Standards were devised by Harry Benjamin [Ref-1]. These set out very strict requirements for a Trans-presenting patient to meet, if medical assistance were to be offered. Dr Benjamin died in 1986.

The Standards of Care were changed in 1979 to WPATH - World Professional Association for Transgender Health, although they were very much based upon Harry Benjamin's work. The Standards of Care are often seen as cruel and intrusive:
"The Eligibility Criteria and Readiness Criteria give certain very specific minimum requirements as prerequisites to HRT or sex reassignment surgery (SRS). For this and other reasons, the WPATH-SOC is a highly controversial and often maligned document among patients seeking medical intervention (hormones, and/or surgery), who state that their legally protected right to proper medical care and treatment is unjustly and unduly withheld or even denied based on the SOC." [Ref-2] This is the critical point here! Self-identifying Trans people find the medically-approved path through transition to be "highly controversial" and "maligned", so they by-pass the current scientific and medical thinking. Not having years of counselling prior to surgery or not following the Standards AT ALL will inevitably result in an artificially-high number of cases of "Trans" - and higher cases of regret.

In America, where you can get surgery to look like a fucking lizard if you pay, things like Standards of Care aren't rigidly enforced. You pay - you get! Here in the UK, things are more tightly regulated, however I have very serious concerns that even in this country, things are "slacking". I have huge faith in the UK Gender Clinic system, but (IMO) things should actually be getting tighter - genuine cases will still be treated, but there shouldn't be a sudden increase is the numbers of genuine Trans - possibly just because of lobby groups or "fashion". If Gender Disphoria is a medically-diagnosable condition, detectable by scientific means, it should be held up to professional scrutiny on a case-by-case basis.

The (perceived??) increase in de-transitioning must surely be due to an increase in mis-diagnosis of Gender Disphoria - either medically diagnosed or Self-Certified! All the cases of de-transitioning I've ever read involve some sort of non-conformance with the Standards of Care And there it is - Self-Certified - BINGO!!!

I followed the SoC under the NHS and although they are very strict and prolonged, they are absolutely necessary! I'll leave this post at that, as it's getting a little "ranty", but I hope others can see what I'm getting at.

References:
1 - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Benjamin
2 - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standards_of_Care_for_the_Health_of_Transsexual,_Transgender,_and_Gender_Nonconforming_People

with perhaps the exception of Euthanasia, as the figures for "regret" tend not to be available
this made me laugh. Black humour.
Interesting post rachel thanks for sharing

If Gender Disphoria is a medically-diagnosable condition, detectable by scientific means, it should be held up to professional scrutiny on a case-by-case basis.

I was under the impression it was based on what the person said. If they were 'persistent, consistent and insistent.'

How do you detect it scientifically, in that case?

These stories are the reason I'm so appalled that the Bath University research into detransitioning has been stopped.

If any other medical treatment was found to have so many side effects, and have anyone at all wish they hadn't accepted treatment, research wouldn't just be accepted, it would be positively encouraged or even compulsory.

But because of the strength of the trans lobby, even discussing this is considered to be transphobic

Great post, Rachel

Most interesting post Rachel, thank you.