Experiences of Detransitioners

Recent research among detransitioners, including Vandenbussche (2022), published in the Journal of Homosexuality, identifies the reasons they reported.

Reasons

Recent research among detransitioners, including Vandenbussche (2022), published in the Journal of Homosexuality, identifies the reasons they reported. Commonly cited reasons include becoming more accepting of their birth sex, complications or side effects, the experience that underlying mental health problems had not been resolved, pressure from their social environment, and a reorientation of identity, for example as gay or lesbian.

Figures by intervention — complications, outcomes, and prevalence, with sources — can be found at genderrisico.nl.

Variation

There is no single profile. Some detransitioners stop after a short period of hormone use, while others do so after surgery. Some still identify as transgender or non-binary after detransitioning; others once again identify with their birth sex. Personal stories can be heard on the American podcast Heterodorx, which features people who have undergone or reversed a transition, and read on IW Features, which profiles detransitioners among others.

Clinical implications

These experiences point to the importance of thorough assessment, room for doubt during treatment, and readily accessible care for those who wish to detransition — without judgment and with attention to both medical and psychological aspects.

Figures from two surveys

Elie Vandenbussche’s survey included 237 participants, more than nine in ten of whom had been born female. Seven in ten said in hindsight that their gender dysphoria was connected to other problems, six in ten cited concerns about their health, and half said that transition had not reduced their dysphoria. In Lisa Littman’s 2021 survey of one hundred detransitioners, more than half felt that they had not been sufficiently assessed before treatment. Nearly a quarter cited difficulty accepting their homosexuality as one of the reasons behind their desire to transition.

What they needed

Participants in both studies primarily reported needing psychological support, reliable medical information about stopping treatment, and contact with peers. Many felt abandoned by their healthcare providers and by the LGBTQI community they had belonged to. Some lost friends and their social network. This explains why so few of them return to the clinic, and why clinic figures provide an incomplete picture.

Stories

The best-known story in Europe is that of Keira Bell, who received puberty blockers and testosterone as a teenager and later brought a legal case. Documentaries such as The Detransition Diaries show more of these experiences. A composite interview with a woman who began her transition at sixteen and is now trying to reclaim her body can be found at genderplek.nl. See also detransition platforms, psychological consequences of detransition, and gay and lesbian young people in the gender debate.