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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

A UK forum is encouraging a desperate parent of a trans identified male to seek out DIY hormones, without consulting health care professionals, how is this dangerous advice legal?

1000 replies

SingleSexSpacesInSchools · 17/03/2026 09:52

OP "If anyone could help me to understand, I would be extremely grateful. I just want my daughter to be alive and happy in her own skin as much as possible ."

Responses: "diy is reliable and safe, there are communities that will be able to help, and really all it is getting a blood test every now and then to check how low or high a couple numbers are and adjusting accordingly."

Full details here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/transgenderUK/comments/1rw0bac/please_help_parent_to_a_16_year_old/

How is this even slightly legal? The pro anorexia sites were shut down right? The pro suicide?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
20
OldCrone · 17/03/2026 16:54

onepostwonder · 17/03/2026 16:44

This is true, but no one has mentioned puberty blockers. I went straight on to oestrogen, which reduced my testosterone to a negligible level on its own.

In most males, GnRH analogues (puberty blockers/ hormone blockers) in addition to oestrogen are required to reduce testosterone levels, until surgery (castration) has taken place.

Shortshriftandlethal · 17/03/2026 16:54

onepostwonder · 17/03/2026 16:50

As human beings, our sex is manifested ane experienced as gender. I haven't had an interpersonal interaction in decades where the gametes I may have provided to a relationship at some point were the focus. This is not a "belief."

Well then you've never been a pregnant/ woman or about to give birth. Nothing to do with 'gender'. Gender, as Judith Butler pointed out, is pure performance.

BiologicalRobot · 17/03/2026 16:56

CAMHS advised me to reach out to transgender support networks and groups with any questions I may have or if I needed advice

I don't know enough to provide this user with links to those groups who can help her better than reddit. Can anyone provide them please?

Shedmistress · 17/03/2026 16:57

If DIY Hormones are totally safe then why oh why do the NHS have to get involved?

FranticFrankie · 17/03/2026 16:59

@SingleSexSpacesInSchools - that is very disturbing. Sounds akin to grooming

Ritchie Herron is brave to speak out. His contribution is valuable, although TRAs don't approve, cite the 'rarity' of detransitioning and say young people like Ritchie weren't trans in the first place.
Well.... er yes

RedToothBrush · 17/03/2026 16:59

SingleSexSpacesInSchools · 17/03/2026 16:53

“Egg cracking” is internet slang from trans culture. An “egg” means someone who is said to be trans but has not realised or accepted it yet, and to “crack someone’s egg” means pushing them towards that conclusion. Even sources sympathetic to the term note that applying it to a real person is precarious, because it means treating somebody else’s identity as already settled before they have worked it out for themselves.

The problem, in plain English, is that it can become a form of suggestion and social pressure. In practice, critics use “egg cracking” to describe older people, often men in online spaces, spotting a younger or vulnerable person who is unhappy, isolated, autistic, gay, depressed, uncomfortable with puberty, or simply not fitting in, and reframing all of that as proof that they are “really trans”. Instead of helping the person think carefully, it can encourage a one-way interpretation where ordinary distress, sexuality issues, body discomfort, or mental health problems are all funnelled into a single identity narrative. That is exactly why many parents and detransitioners see it as manipulative rather than supportive. The term itself literally includes the idea of causing someone to realise they are trans, not just neutrally listening to them.

Ritchie Herron’s account is often cited here. Herron has said that, when he was struggling with serious mental health issues, strangers online told him he “must be trans”, and that this fed into a pathway where, in his view, clinicians failed to properly explore his underlying problems before medical transition. Reports on his case say he believed depression, anxiety, OCD and other difficulties were not adequately addressed, and that he later came to see transition as a grave mistake. Whether people agree with every conclusion he draws or not, his story is a clear example of the concern: vulnerable people can be nudged by confident outsiders into seeing “trans” as the answer before other explanations have been properly examined.

FYI this happened to my own son effectively.

AllSorts, the Brighton Charity were to blame.

Aka grooming.

onepostwonder · 17/03/2026 16:59

Shedmistress · 17/03/2026 16:57

If DIY Hormones are totally safe then why oh why do the NHS have to get involved?

CBC levels, baseline liver and kidney function checks are needed, as well as pituitary function. Once on hormones, yearly followup testing should be done to monitor levels and organ function.

CassOle · 17/03/2026 17:02

See also FINN5TER, who started out streaming himself playing Minecraft (IIRC) and was paid huge amounts of money by men to stream wearing a dress, etc. all designed to 'crack his egg'.

Shedmistress · 17/03/2026 17:02

onepostwonder · 17/03/2026 16:59

CBC levels, baseline liver and kidney function checks are needed, as well as pituitary function. Once on hormones, yearly followup testing should be done to monitor levels and organ function.

So it isn't safe then, if levels can get too high or low to be safe?

Or if organs can fail to function?

onepostwonder · 17/03/2026 17:02

RedToothBrush · 17/03/2026 16:59

Aka grooming.

From memory, Ritchie Herron’s surgical experience was also barbaric and should absolutely happen to no one.

veggietabless · 17/03/2026 17:02

This reply has been deleted

This message has been withdrawn at the poster's request

It's sad OP that you think MN's concern about children being encouraged down the road to transitioning is more about toilets than their health and safety.

No one had suggested that your child has been indoctrinated by school - is there a reason you're jumping to conclusions? How carefully are you monitoring internet usage though? Please be very careful about that, especially if they are on Reddit.

CAHMS are a mess unfortunately - why would you consider any advice reliable from an organisation that suggests splashing water on your face if you feel suicidal? Advising you to reach out to any old support groups is surely a recipe for disaster? If they were going to recommend that surely they would have done some kind of vetting and some kind of way of ensuring the advice was safe and correct and directing you to specific sites? I guess these days it's cheaper and easier just to recommend you find your own online support rather than offer any proper, costly support.

I'm sorry you've been failed OP. Please don't go down the route on mixing up your own hormone cocktails. Watchful waiting is the best approach and not socially transitioning. This from transgendertrend:

There is strong evidence that the majority of children with gender dysphoria will grow out of it and come to feel comfortable with their bodies. All previous published studies show that gender dysphoria naturally resolves for most children by the end of adolescence. However, persistence rates have increased as the practice of socially transitioning children has increased over the past decade. The evidence shows that if adults ‘affirm’ a child as the opposite sex, the child will hold on to that belief for longer. This increases the number of children who want to medically transition with puberty blockers followed by cross-sex hormones and surgeries. These children will become lifelong medical patients, with all the associated and accumulating health risks.

Commonsense, knowledge of child and adolescent development, and existing studies all tell us the same thing: that children grow out of these feelings if we leave them to grow up without undue influence from adults telling them they are ‘transgender’ and facilitating their ‘social transition.’ We don’t yet know how many children in The Trans Youth Project will regret their medical transition in adulthood, but what is clear is that none of them will have the experience of growing up in a healthy, medically undamaged body to compare.

https://www.transgendertrend.com/children-change-minds/

Igneococcus · 17/03/2026 17:03

onepostwonder · 17/03/2026 16:59

CBC levels, baseline liver and kidney function checks are needed, as well as pituitary function. Once on hormones, yearly followup testing should be done to monitor levels and organ function.

Funnily enough, otherwise healthy people not on opposite sex hormones don't need those checks. It's almost like there is a problem with taking sex hormones that your body didn't evolve to be exposed to at these levels.

likelysuspect · 17/03/2026 17:03

SingleSexSpacesInSchools · 17/03/2026 16:53

“Egg cracking” is internet slang from trans culture. An “egg” means someone who is said to be trans but has not realised or accepted it yet, and to “crack someone’s egg” means pushing them towards that conclusion. Even sources sympathetic to the term note that applying it to a real person is precarious, because it means treating somebody else’s identity as already settled before they have worked it out for themselves.

The problem, in plain English, is that it can become a form of suggestion and social pressure. In practice, critics use “egg cracking” to describe older people, often men in online spaces, spotting a younger or vulnerable person who is unhappy, isolated, autistic, gay, depressed, uncomfortable with puberty, or simply not fitting in, and reframing all of that as proof that they are “really trans”. Instead of helping the person think carefully, it can encourage a one-way interpretation where ordinary distress, sexuality issues, body discomfort, or mental health problems are all funnelled into a single identity narrative. That is exactly why many parents and detransitioners see it as manipulative rather than supportive. The term itself literally includes the idea of causing someone to realise they are trans, not just neutrally listening to them.

Ritchie Herron’s account is often cited here. Herron has said that, when he was struggling with serious mental health issues, strangers online told him he “must be trans”, and that this fed into a pathway where, in his view, clinicians failed to properly explore his underlying problems before medical transition. Reports on his case say he believed depression, anxiety, OCD and other difficulties were not adequately addressed, and that he later came to see transition as a grave mistake. Whether people agree with every conclusion he draws or not, his story is a clear example of the concern: vulnerable people can be nudged by confident outsiders into seeing “trans” as the answer before other explanations have been properly examined.

FYI this happened to my own son effectively.

AllSorts, the Brighton Charity were to blame.

Grooming

likelysuspect · 17/03/2026 17:05

Shortshriftandlethal · 17/03/2026 16:54

Well then you've never been a pregnant/ woman or about to give birth. Nothing to do with 'gender'. Gender, as Judith Butler pointed out, is pure performance.

Edited

'gender' is simply personality. Unless like you say someone is making their 'gender' about their sex or not their sex and then its a performance.

onepostwonder · 17/03/2026 17:07

Igneococcus · 17/03/2026 17:03

Funnily enough, otherwise healthy people not on opposite sex hormones don't need those checks. It's almost like there is a problem with taking sex hormones that your body didn't evolve to be exposed to at these levels.

It's called medical treatment for a reason.

CassOle · 17/03/2026 17:07

In the American case U.S. v. Skrmetti, attorney Chase Strangio (female who identifies as male) admitted in court:

'What I think that is referring to is there is no evidence in some—in the studies that this treatment reduces completed suicide. And the reason for that is completed suicide, thankfully and admittedly, is rare and we’re talking about a very small population of individuals with studies that don’t necessarily have completed suicides within them.

However, there are multiple studies, long-term longitudinal studies that do show that there is a reduction in—in suicidality . . .'

Igneococcus · 17/03/2026 17:10

onepostwonder · 17/03/2026 17:07

It's called medical treatment for a reason.

Medical treatment for what though?

onepostwonder · 17/03/2026 17:14

Igneococcus · 17/03/2026 17:10

Medical treatment for what though?

I don't even know what it's called these days. Sex Inversion. Transsexualism. Gender Dysphoria.

Catwalking · 17/03/2026 17:17

It’s safer to research using ‘Google Scholar’, many of the scientific research papers available will give actual facts & not be adulterated by money matters or possible groomers.

AmaryllisNightAndDay · 17/03/2026 17:20

And even with all that screening and measuring what happens if the numbers go wrong and your child is so invested that they can't bear to stop? The doctors might say "no" but people who will sell to a DIY-er will carry right on selling.

Igneococcus · 17/03/2026 17:22

onepostwonder · 17/03/2026 17:14

I don't even know what it's called these days. Sex Inversion. Transsexualism. Gender Dysphoria.

But I thought being trans wasn't a medical or mental issue?

RedToothBrush · 17/03/2026 17:24

When the malpractice suits start hitting hard the NHS won't touch this treatment with a bargepole. So what happens in the US with legal cases matters here in terms of how likely the NHS are to consider insurance issues. If there's no viable evidence of these drugs being appropriate and effective they will stop them. The NHS have already stopped cross sex hormones for minors because it's becoming apparent there is an issue.

Healthcare has to be proven or it leaves providers liable. The NHSs actions so far on cross sex hormones for under 16 should be taken seriously. Especially since there is evidence of a problem - it's just being hushed up by the blocking of data from the Tavistock. They KNOW there's an issue and it's doing harm not providing a healthcare solution.

onepostwonder · 17/03/2026 17:25

Igneococcus · 17/03/2026 17:22

But I thought being trans wasn't a medical or mental issue?

Sex realists think a lot of things.

onepostwonder · 17/03/2026 17:28

RedToothBrush · 17/03/2026 17:24

When the malpractice suits start hitting hard the NHS won't touch this treatment with a bargepole. So what happens in the US with legal cases matters here in terms of how likely the NHS are to consider insurance issues. If there's no viable evidence of these drugs being appropriate and effective they will stop them. The NHS have already stopped cross sex hormones for minors because it's becoming apparent there is an issue.

Healthcare has to be proven or it leaves providers liable. The NHSs actions so far on cross sex hormones for under 16 should be taken seriously. Especially since there is evidence of a problem - it's just being hushed up by the blocking of data from the Tavistock. They KNOW there's an issue and it's doing harm not providing a healthcare solution.

Anti-trans campaigners have been writing fan fiction for years about the impending lawsuits filed and won by the 1000s of detransitioning ex-trans youth victims of the NHS. We're all still waiting.

Igneococcus · 17/03/2026 17:29

onepostwonder · 17/03/2026 17:25

Sex realists think a lot of things.

It's not "sex realist" who claim it's not a mental health issue.

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