This story is from the comments listed below, summarised by AI.
Authenticity Assessment: Not Suspicious
Based on the provided comments, this account appears to be authentic.
There are no serious red flags suggesting it is a bot or inauthentic. The user's story is highly detailed, emotionally consistent, and medically specific over a multi-year timeline. The language is personal, nuanced, and reflects the deep, lived experience of someone who medically transitioned as a minor and is now dealing with the long-term health consequences and social challenges of detransition. The passion and frustration expressed are consistent with the stated context.
About me
I was a feminine boy who liked other boys, and growing up in a homophobic place made me feel deeply wrong. Clinicians convinced me and my parents that I was a girl and that medical transition was my only path to a normal life. I was on hormones and puberty blockers from age 13 to 21, which caused devastating and permanent damage to my health. I stopped everything and now identify as a gay man, but I feel out of place and struggle with serious chronic illnesses. My greatest hope is that by sharing my story, I can help prevent this from happening to other vulnerable kids.
My detransition story
My whole journey started when I was a kid. I was a boy who didn't like rough play and wanted to date other boys. Growing up in a homophobic environment, I felt my attraction to boys was wrong. I became hyper-focused on what I saw as flaws in my appearance and felt deeply uncomfortable with myself. I saw things about being trans on social media, but I was really convinced when I went to clinicians. They told me that because I was a non-conforming gay kid, I must be a girl born in the wrong body. They said transition was the only way to be "normal" and to disappear into society, so that's the path I took.
I started on estrogen and Spiro when I was 13 years old. At 14, I switched from Spiro to puberty blockers, a histrelin acetate implant. I was on hormones until I was 21. For a long time, I believed this was my only option. I was terrified of my libido returning because before hormones, it felt like it overtook me. I wanted to be seen as pretty, not handsome. I questioned myself sometimes and even back then, I knew I probably wouldn't opt for surgery. Hearing other people's stories about their negative experiences with surgery actually saved me from going through with it myself.
Now, I see that my transition was a mistake. It was an escape from dealing with internalized homophobia and the discomfort of puberty. The medical consequences have been devastating. I developed so many health problems. On the blockers, I had painful muscle spasms and recurring blood in my urine. Since being on all these hormones, my kidneys and liver have been impacted and don't function at 100%. I have chronic urinary incontinence and intimate dysfunction. My growth was stunted at 14. Now, I have weird bone growths in my joints, on my sternum, and a large one on my ankle that doctors think might be bone spurs from the growth stunting. I went from never having headaches to having terrible tension headaches that come with waves of drowsiness.
I stopped all hormones a little over a year ago. I’m 22 now, but I look permanently androgynous because I started so young. This makes it hard to find my place. I identify as a gay man now, but I’m often pushed out of gay male spaces because people assume I’m a trans woman. I still go to drag events because they're more relaxed, but it can be triggering if I see "support trans kids" signs. Knowing what this did to my life, the thought of it happening to another child makes me feel sick.
I don't regret transitioning in the sense that it helped me survive for a while, but I deeply regret that I was ever put on this medical path. I was a kid who didn't understand what was happening, and the doctors didn't give my parents any real choice either. It’s a complete tragedy. I'm left with serious health complications, and I'm now infertile. It's incredibly frustrating that so many doctors refuse to even consider that my health problems were caused by the hormones. I feel like I went from an exceptionally healthy kid to someone who is extremely sickly and has to monitor everything I do just to function.
I hope that by sharing my story, I can help others. I want professionals to research this to stop it from happening to other kids. I hope society wakes up to what's happening and that those of us who were harmed can get the care and justice we need to live healthy, successful lives.
| Age | Date (if known) | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 13 | Started estrogen and Spiro (testosterone blockers). | |
| 14 | Switched from Spiro to a histrelin acetate (puberty blocker) implant. | |
| 14-16 | Had the puberty blocker implant. Experienced muscle spasms, hematuria (blood in urine), and growth stunting. | |
| 16-21 | Was back on testosterone blockers (Spiro and later finesteride) and estrogen. | |
| 21 | Stopped all hormone therapy. | |
| 22 | Currently off hormones for over a year. Living with chronic health issues and identifying as a gay male. |
Top Comments by /u/ScarletStarlet1:
I relate to your experience, I'm sorry you also went through this.. mine was similar but vice versa, didn't like rough and tumble play, wanted to date boys, homophobic environment led me to hyper focused on wrongness of my growing attraction and perceived flaws in my appearance, saw this stuff on social media in passing but was really convinced when the clinicians who did this told me that transition was the only way to be "normal" bc I was non conforming and wouldn't be accepted as gay bc I was just a girl brain born in the wrong body and this would fix it so I could "disappear into society". Now I have all these medical issues and very few want to take a deeper look or even consider it could've been the hormones.. it's beyond frustrating and made it impossible to pursue justice in my situation. I hope society wakes up sooner rather than later and we can both find the care we need and a path forward to live healthy successful lives.
I read your story.. and first I want to say I’m sorry. What you’ve been through is beyond terrible.. I do feel somewhat the same way though. And it’s stories like yours that have saved me from opting for more extreme forms of surgery. I really do hope that you’re able to find some of happiness in life. I know it’s difficult and thank you for commenting. I wish you luck in life 💕
First I want to start out by saying I'm so sorry this happened to you, it must be very frightening. I hope with the right medicine they can help you recover. To answer your question yes, every single person I've known who's medically transitioned, especially as minors, have developed health problems. For me, I was Mtf from 13 yrs old on estrogen and Spiro and switched from Spiro to puberty blockers (histrelin acetate) at 14 but I developed painful muscle spasms, intimate dysfunction, I had recurring hematuria while I was on the blockers that came and went until the blockers implant was finally removed after around 2 yrs. So was back on t blockers (Spiro and later finesteride) until I was 21. My health issues on the stuff is too long to list but briefly, my kidneys and liver took a huge impact from this stuff, but aren't damaged to the point my doctors are worried about failure, but they aren't functioning at 100% as they should be for my age and lifestyle would have. I've recovered from some of my health issues but I still suffer from chronic urinary incontinence (stress and urge incontinence) and intimate dysfunction. Also since stopping hormones, while my bone density has had some recovery thanks to a strict healthy lifestyle, I have started to have these weird bone growths in my joints, top of my sternum and feet, one of them on my right foot is as big as my ankle, my Drs don't know the cause yet but suspect they might be bone spurs or growths happening because the pediatric Endo who started me on this stuff stunted my growth at 14 as well. Of which there's no long term studies on the outcomes of that. I also went from rarely if ever having headaches to having terrible tension headaches since being on the blockers, they used to be much worse and more frequent when I was still on the stuff but I still get them every week or two. They come on with a wave of drowsiness. All of this I don't have a cause yet as many Drs in my state have told me over the years that there is no possible way it could be the hormones, but as more of my peers have developed similar issues in the same span of time my current Drs have run out of possible causes and are starting to acknowledge it was most probably the hormone therapy. I still have a bunch of tests to do to check my pituitary function and they're sending me to a bone specialist and a new urologist to understand all these symptoms so I am still unsure what the future might hold or what they'll find. All I know is I went from an exceptionally healthy kid to extremely sickly ever since going on hrt. It takes monitoring literally everything I put in my body to even be as healthy as I am now and I'm still extremely sickly compared to other 22 yr olds I'm around. It's indescribably frustrating to know this all happened because as a kid I fell into the path of a predatory doctor. Again I'm so so sorry this happened OP, I understand the pain and frustration as I'm also in hospital very frequently. I hope more Drs wake up the more people come out that this was wrong and we get our medical expenses covered for the damage that was caused. Best wishes to you moving forward OP 🙏
Hello! Yes please I'd be willing to offer my voice/experience to any professional researching to stop this stuff happening to kids. I had no way to understand what was happening and they didn't offer my parent any choice either it's completely tragic. Please feel free to post those links here I'll figure a way to pin them to the top so if others in a similar situation happen upon this post they can see them.
I still attend pride events, as a gay male now I still try to find community. But since I was started on hrt so young I still look androgynous even after being off everything for little over a year. Because of that I still get pushed out, or am made aware I'm not welcome in gay male spaces as they often assume me to be a trans woman still, even if I correct them. Drag events I still go to as they're much more relaxed as far as how people look. Sometimes it's triggering if there's "support trans kids" signs or messages, given how much it ruined my life the thought of it happening to another child like I was makes me really nauseous. But if it's just a big party without any of that, I enjoy those very much as I can just get wasted and numb the pain.
Thank you. By nobody to talk too I meant more along the lines of other trans people. It’s a rather taboo topic within the community. On the bright side I’m rather okay with the changes thus far however I do question myself from time to time and will probably not opt for surgery. HCP? I really do appreciate your comment and show of support thank you 💕
For me it’s more about being seen as pretty rather than handsome. I can also definitely relate to the fear of libido returning. Before hormones I felt almost overtaken by it so I’m deathly afraid of it’s return (I don’t know if it will 100%. I think it all depends on when you started hormone therapy and how long you’ve been on it but I’m no expert on the topic)