Young detransitioner talks about being the youngest woman to have a double mastectomy at the age of 15

[stumbledin]

I wanted to link to this very moving story about this young woman but it is only on a gofund me page as at 16 she is trying to reverse some of the surgery adults allowed her to have.

I dont want to break MNHQ rules and I know fundraisers aren't allowed on FWR, but I do want her story to be shared.

So how do get others to read about why Penny Cunningham needs reconstructive surgery at 16?

Thanks

The fundraiser is easy enough to find by just Googling Penny Cunningham needs reconstructive surgery.

I hope she sues the doctors involved. As she's in the US it should be possible to get a no win/ no fee deal.

Poor poor thing.

I've copied this from her gofundme page but saw it on FB earlier. I've deleted the part about asking for funding so hope this makes it ok to post. I'm so angry and sad for her.

Hi, my name is Penny and I’m a 16 year old detransitioner. When I was 11 years old, I came out as transgender. My parents were hesitant at first and of course scared for my safety, but overall supportive. I attended a gender clinic to express my issues of gender dysphoria. They asked me the usual questions about if I felt disconnected with my body, my desire to be the opposite sex, and my issues with my period. From the very start , people online told me that if I was uncomfortable with my body, I was probably trans. I am glad I had the support at the time of my doctors because I was in a near constant state of depression and suicidal ideation. However I am not glad that they did no psych evaluation on me to test me for underlying disorders such as body dysmorphia or eating disorders. When I was 13 I was put on hormone blockers, which keep the estrogen from producing. This is what was recommended and it made me happy because I thought I was sure. After this, I gained around 40-50 pounds due to hormone imbalances, making my body issues worse. I only got more depressed and uncomfortable with myself, but I was happy it stopped menstruation. The next year at 14, I got a therapist approved letter to start testosterone, hormone replacement therapy. Although I was pleased at the time with the changes I saw, my mental health still wasn’t improving, and transition was not the easy fix i expected. I insisted that I go through with surgery, a double mastectomy. At this point, I was starting to have doubts but I assured myself it was normal. On August 16th, 2019 I got top surgery at the age of 15, one of the youngest people that clinic had operated on. Very shortly after surgery, my depression got worse. I hated myself just as much as ever, leading me to a psychiatric hospitalization in October 2019. During my hospital stay, I realized my mistake. Transition wasn’t the fix I needed and it couldn’t take away my mental health issues. I had never been tested for any body issues, so we assumed it was gender dysphoria. After changing my name back to a female name and telling my family, I was completely distraught with my surgery. I started to feel better about my identity, being a woman felt much more comfortable. However, I still had giant scars on my chest and a body part gone. I detransitioned around 8 months ago and have been living as a female since then. I have applied to get reconstructive breast surgery that will use fat transplants and implants to create the look my body once had. I have severe discomfort from the way my body looks currently and I just want to fix the mess I got myself into. I never knew that I could be a girl and be myself without being judged. Through detransition, I have found there isn’t just one right way to be a gender, and that it’s okay to be a bit different.

I was diagnosed with autism last summer, and my current doctors have researched the link between autism and gender identity, finding that might have been the cause of my issues. I understand that I am responsible for my choices and that I have to fix it myself. But my doctors didn’t take into account my autism, body issues, or other mental illnesses when allowing me to transition. My therapist agrees that I was too young at the time and that making such a life changing decision has brought challenges to me.

Poor love. So many of these accounts are connected with the pressures of growing up with autism.

That poor child.
I cant believe this is happening.
That not only is it happening but children are being encouraged to butcher themselves and the people doing it are lauded and above reproach.
Anyone who thinks chopping bits off of young girls is ok is a sick twisted bastard.
Im so sick of this awful shit.

That a surgeon, presumably a man of some intellectual capacity, would be so blinded by fantasy or misogyny, or more likely money, that he’d readily mutilate a child.

I understand that I am responsible for my choices and that I have to fix it myself

No. You We’re, and are a child. A child that was lied to by adults you had every reason to believe.

Thirteen year olds have had mastectomies to be transed, so she's not the youngest by any means, unfortunately.

This is so awful and heartbreaking.

I never knew that I could be a girl and be myself without being judged. Through detransition, I have found there isn’t just one right way to be a gender, and that it’s okay to be a bit different.

I'm so upset that there are so many young girls, especially those with autism, who are struggling with this. There needs to be some sort of major campaign to spread the message that it's ok to be different and uncomfortable with your body and the societal expectations of girls. You can absolutely be yourself without changing anything about your body. You are not less of a girl or woman because you don't conform to expected stereotypes.

I understand that I am responsible for my choices and that I have to fix it myself.

No, no, no. You were and are a child and you have been failed by every adult in authority around you who should have known better than to allow a child to make irreversible decisions about their body. What was allowed to happen to you is criminal - please understand that. What is being allowed to happen to young girls like yourself is CRIMINAL.

People need to go to prison for enabling this sort of stuff.

This is so horrible. Every adult that Penny interacted with in a medical or psychological capacity failed her. I hope that she gets the help she needs right now, and in the long run I also hope that there are career ending repercussions for those who facilitated situations like this.

I've watched a few Elle Palmer videos as well. She's a detransitioner who transitioned at 15. She has talked about how she was too young to be making these decisions (although, like Penny, she blames herself too).

These young women need to start suing - it's the only language the medical establishment and politicians will understand.

The people facilitating this should be in prison.

Poor kid. Not 'the youngest woman' ... a girl.
Any surgeon who performs drastic surgically unnecessary procedures on anyone without an absolutely clear psychological diagnosis and with all other avenues fully explored should be sued to kingdom come and struck off for gross negligence. And they shouldn't be doing it to a child, period.

The legislature is culpable too. This sort of surgery is illegal on minors is illegal in many countries. If that child's wishes and doubts had been within a context where the surgery was illegal before 18 then there's a good chance she'd have got a proper diagnosis of her autism and not gone down this path.

That a surgeon would do the surgery in itself is disgraceful

Essentially she has been mutilated by a system and individuals within that system that should be trustworthy.
There is something very corrupt going on in the world with our young people . I am assuming this would not happen in the UK, am I right or naive?

I could weep, the poor girl. We are going to see a whole generation of young women who were medically sterilised and mutilated, told they were not good enough all because of this ideology.

The lost girls.

Penny, if you read this, you weren't responsible. You were a child and the adults around you were supposed to be there to protect you and prevent the (perfectly normal) confusions of adolescence leading to irreversible damage. They failed you.

The doctors should be up on malpractice suits and the grownups in society as a whole need to step forward and stop a small but vocal lobby group from making laws to allow children to commit to this sort of irreversible damage.

The people pushing this evil should be in jail.

Poor, poor girl. She has been failed by everyone around her and she is still blaming herself.

Just on the go fund me - i've seen a lot of detransitioners on twitter cautioning against rushing into having more surgery so quickly to try to reverse the previous surgery. They sound wise.

That is indeed a wise comment AnotherLass.

They are also giving hysterectomies to trans people in their early 20s. I didn't think about having kids till I was mid 30s.

Just posted the go fund me to twitter.

Interesting about advice not to rush to further surgery.

I suppose at a minimum it is important to let hormones settle down and recover physical health.

Absolutely shocking. Poor thing has been completely let down by everyone around her. Thanks for sharing the information.

Also culpable are insurance companies who have been funding these surgeries, and then, in Penny's case at least, refuse to pay for "elective" reconstruction.