This story is from the comments listed below, summarised by AI.
Authenticity Assessment: Not Suspicious
Based on the comments provided, the account appears authentic. There are no serious red flags suggesting it is a bot or a bad-faith actor. The user's detailed, emotionally charged, and highly personal narratives about detransitioning, medical procedures, and community dynamics are consistent with a genuine detransitioner's perspective. The language is nuanced, and the user demonstrates self-reflection and a clear, evolving viewpoint over time.
About me
I started as a young girl who felt a deep discomfort with my changing body and struggled with mental health issues. I was convinced online that transitioning was the answer, and I took testosterone for three years believing it was a cure. I eventually realized the hormones weren't fixing my deeper problems and that the community I was in was more like a cult. With the loving support of my boyfriend, I understood my pain was linked to societal pressures, not my identity, and I chose to detransition. Now, after surgeries to reverse some changes, I am a healthy and happy woman who has found peace with myself.
My detransition story
My whole journey started when I was really young, feeling uncomfortable with puberty and my developing body. I hated my breasts and felt a deep sense of wrongness. I was also struggling with depression, anxiety, and a really bad eating disorder. I had very low self-esteem and felt like I didn't fit in anywhere. I spent a lot of time online, especially on Tumblr and Facebook, and I was heavily influenced by what I saw there. It felt like an escape from my own reality.
I became convinced that I was trans and that transitioning was the only way to fix my pain. I saw it as a kind of spiritual thing, like my true self was a man trapped in a woman's body. I got approved for testosterone by four different medical professionals with doctorates. They all confirmed I had gender dysphoria. I started taking testosterone, and for a while, it felt like it was working. It felt like a cure.
But it didn't last. The hormones didn't fix the underlying problems. I was still me, just with a deeper voice and more body hair. I started to realize that changing my body wouldn't change how I felt inside. The trans community I was in felt more and more like a cult. They were narrow-minded and demanded everyone fit into a box. My "friends" interrogated me when I started questioning, asking why I wouldn't just identify as non-binary instead. They couldn't accept that I might just be a woman.
What really helped me was my boyfriend. He was the only one who cared enough to ask gentle, concerned questions. He made it clear that he loved me for me and was worried about me hurting myself. That kind of real love, not just blind affirmation, was what I needed. I started to understand that my dysphoria was more about how society treats women and the pain of puberty, not some innate identity. I learned that female and male can both express any kind of masculinity or femininity without having to "identify" as anything else.
I decided to detransition. I had voice feminization surgery to reverse the effects of testosterone on my voice. The surgery went well, but the recovery was long—I couldn't speak for a month and was reliant on loved ones. It cost about as much as a used car. Now, my voice sounds basically like it did before I ever took T, maybe even a bit higher. I also had laser hair removal to get rid of the facial hair.
Looking back, I have a lot of regrets. I regret the permanent changes to my body and the time I lost. I feel a sense of guilt because some of my friends transitioned after seeing me do it. I was in a really dark, psychotic place when I identified as trans; I was angry and not safe to be around. I feel like the adults in my life—doctors, therapists, even my parents—failed me. They were spineless and just affirmed my self-harm instead of helping me find real solutions. I was a kid who couldn't process long-term consequences, and they took advantage of that.
I don't regret the lessons I learned, though. I learned how to spot cult-like thinking and how to value real, honest relationships. My dysphoria completely went away when I found acceptance from someone who loved all of me, masculine and feminine traits included. I'm in a happy relationship now, my eating disorder is gone, and I'm the most mentally and physically healthy I've ever been. I'm just a woman, and I'm finally okay with that.
| Age | Event |
|---|---|
| Early Teens | Started feeling intense discomfort with puberty and developing female body. Hated my breasts. |
| Mid-Teens (exact age not stated) | Spent a lot of time online, heavily influenced by trans communities on Tumblr/Facebook. |
| 18 | Formally diagnosed with gender dysphoria by multiple professionals. Started testosterone. |
| 21 | After 3 years on testosterone, began to question my transition. |
| 21 | Decided to detransition. Stopped taking testosterone. |
| 22 | Had voice feminization surgery. |
| 24 | Had laser hair removal treatments. |
| Now (mid-20s) | Fully detransitioned. Voice and health have recovered. Living as a woman. |
Top Comments by /u/Total_Address4630:
I know this doesn’t make much of a difference but I’m sorry that you lost your penis to this cult. I feel like I left a cult too and the loss of dignity is the hardest part for me, knowing I supported a movement that a lot of people knew was stupid right from the beginning. I feel dumb for falling for it but I still empathize with trans people a lot, which is what got me into it. How can any teen resist the urge to join a group when they say you’ll fit in for once and get endless validation and love. It’s hard. I feel for the kids and mentally ill adults who are still sucked into this claiming they love their mutilations
when someone tells you they just left a cult, believe them. It might sound stupid, to say that the group of people you associated with online turned out to be a cult, whether it be gender jesus, extreme veganism, pro ana, men’s rights activism, anti natalism… i talked to one guy who said his CrossFit community started adopting the behavior of cults. No matter how dumb the subject matter sounds, anyone can fall prey to psychological manipulation when they’re lonely enough to not see red flags anymore.
nobody should transition, ever. Let me explain. Imagine if your dysphoria, instead of being directed towards your sex and gender presentation, was directed towards your race/ethnicity presentation. What would be the appropriate way to get help with intense racial dysphoria? Should you paint your face white and try to become a white person? Or, would it be better to get some positive role models of your ethnicity, do daily journaling and meditation, find a community of similar people who are comfortable with their physical attributes… think about it
While these folks fume on the internet about people disagreeing with them I’m just wondering why my parents almost let their suicidal kid with no self esteem remove their breasts and uterus. Wondering how every adult around me was completely willing to destroy my fertility and my body on a suicidal whim. Wondering why my “friends” and parent who supposedly loves me seemed disappointed when I told them I’d be quitting my self harm with hormones, and felt mentally healthy enough to go back to normal.. I don’t spend my time playing games with words anymore, so if being healthy and focusing on my spirituality, career, exercise rather than transitioning makes me in a cult I don’t even care.
I think it’s not seen as sexism because it financially benefits a lot of people for everyone to be insecure and confused and have low self esteem. They must have been selling less when the rhetoric was more like “love yourself just the way you are boys can be feminine and it’s okay be yourself” I heard lines like that right until about 2012 and then it switched
“you were NEVER trans” I have two psychologists letters, a letter from a medical doctor and confirmation from a psychiatrist that I had gender dysphoria and was approved for testosterone by all four of these medical professionals. Transitioning didn’t work because it doesn’t work. Keep trying to escape womanhood and watch your mental and physical health continue to deteriorate indefinitely. Have fun with that if that’s your choice. For me it was a complete waste of my teenage years and I think back and go, why didn’t anyone care enough to stop me from self harming? I am like an anorexic whom everyone congratulated on the weight loss. My ribs will never be in the same position as they once were. If I had never opened Tumblr or Facebook I would not be permanently deformed right now. One day everyone responsible will be crying out for mercy and they will not receive it. I heard the death penalty is still legal in many US states.
Most of mine didn’t drop me immediately, they just became uncomfortable and used the word “journey” a lot and didn’t want to listen to my feelings of distress around the trans community and my experiences. I felt traumatized and they were treating it like a fun second transition when I needed emotional support. The disconnect was too much for me so it was mostly me cutting ties with them.
I, like many here, was 100% certain I was trans and went through all the official steps and was confirmed to have gender dysphoria by 4 people with doctorate degrees. But changing your identity to join a community that all change their names and dress style to fit into sex stereotypes won’t cure dysphoria. Experimental hormone use for cosmetic effect felt like it cured my dysphoria at first but made it so much worse in the long run. Finding honest kind people who accept and love for who you truly are and having a deeper purpose to your life did cure my dysphoria. The categories of female and male can both experience the entire spectrum of femininity and masculinity, without “identifying” as anything. We all need to accept that we cannot and will never be able to control peoples judgements of us and we should be who we are regardless of how others perceive us.
Honestly I feel sad and afraid. Sad because so many former friends transitioned after seeing me do it and talk about it, there’s a sense of guilt. And I feel real fear because I remember how psychotic and out of touch with reality I was when I identified as trans. Looking back on it I was a danger to myself and others, I was not safe to be around, I was in such a dark place that I thought about physically harming “transphobic” people a lot. So yeah I feel a lot of fear, knowing where my own mind was back then.
I didn’t experience straight up harassment but I did get a lot of “are you sure you aren’t non-binary” or “why aren’t you identifying as non-binary or agender” at the beginning of my detransition, so after a few months I made a decision for my sanity to simply stop talking to anyone who seems out of touch with reality. So the only trans people I still talk to are the ones that can acknowledge their birth sex and aren’t part of this mess.