This story is from the comments listed below, summarised by AI.
Authenticity Assessment: Not Suspicious
Based on the provided comments, this account appears authentic. There are no serious red flags suggesting it is a bot or inauthentic.
The user demonstrates:
- Personal, detailed lived experience with specific medical details (orchiectomy, T gel, breast tissue, recovery timelines).
- Emotional complexity and introspection about shame, insecurity, and social dynamics.
- Consistent narrative across multiple comments over time, discussing their 18-month detransition.
- Reasonable engagement with the community's tone, offering both practical advice and philosophical discussion.
The passion and skepticism expressed are consistent with a genuine detransitioner's perspective.
About me
I was born male and transitioned to live as a woman for several years, but it only made me deeply unhappy and isolated. I decided to detransition about a year and a half ago, and going back on testosterone has greatly improved my energy and well-being. While I have lasting physical changes like breasts from estrogen, I'm learning to manage my own insecurities about my body. Socially, people have been surprisingly supportive, though I'm still figuring out how to navigate life as a man. Ultimately, I needed to go through that journey to realize my problems were with masculinity itself, not with being male.
My detransition story
My whole journey with transition and detransition has been a long and complicated one. I was born male, and for a long time, I believed I was meant to be a woman. I lived as a trans woman for several years, but it ultimately made me miserable. I felt low on energy, rarely left the house, and was deeply unhappy. About a year and a half ago, I felt like I had hit a wall. I thought that aside from ending my life, the only other radical option was to try detransitioning. So I stopped living as a woman and went back to identifying as a man.
Going back on testosterone has been mostly positive for me. I actually feel like I have higher testosterone levels now than I did naturally before I ever transitioned. My energy levels are better. The main downsides are the shame I sometimes feel, which reminds me of my transition a lot, and the daily inconvenience of applying the T gel. I have to do that because I had an orchiectomy during my transition, so my body can't produce its own testosterone anymore.
I don't really regret transitioning because I think I needed to go through it to get to where I am now. But I do have some lasting physical changes that affect me. I still have small breasts from the estrogen, and of course, I no longer have testicles. This has made heterosexual dating and being intimate with women really difficult for my confidence. I feel insecure about what I consider to be shameful parts of my body. Interestingly, I've had interest from both men and women, and I recently have been with a woman who doesn't seem to be bothered by my body at all. So I think the problem is more my own insecurity than other people actually being put off.
I'm a straight man, and I think that's an important part of my story. For me, gender and sexuality are linked, even if a lot of people want to deny that. My experience is going to be different from someone who is attracted to men.
Socially, detransitioning has been surprisingly okay. People care a lot less than you'd think. My roommates, family, and friends took it in their stride. They just want me to be comfortable. It was actually quite liberating, and even a little fun, to detransition. The bigger challenge has been re-learning how to socialize as a man. I still struggle with it. People say you don't have to buy into masculine stereotypes, but when you're hanging out with regular guys, you can feel alienated if you don't act in a standard masculine way. It’s something I’m still working on.
My thoughts on gender now are that it's a very complex thing. For me, transitioning was something I felt I had to try, but it wasn't the solution to my deeper problems. Detransitioning has forced me to confront my original issues with masculinity and what it means to be a man.
Here is a timeline of the major events:
| Age | Event |
|---|---|
| (Age not specified) | Started transition (MTF). |
| (Age not specified) | Underwent orchiectomy. |
| Approx. 30 years old | Began detransition (FTM), stopped estrogen, started testosterone therapy. |
| Approx. 31.5 years old | Currently detransitioned for 18 months, living as a man and managing health with T gel. |
Top Comments by /u/cddvgxhgfzvbgdfhfx:
Yeah man. Big relate. I still struggle with it 18mo into detrans. People say you don’t have to buy in to either gender stereotype, but if you’re hanging out with “normie” dudes, chances are you’ll feel alienated if you deviate from standard man behaviour. It makes it hard. But you got it. You’re probably better at relating to men than you think. Just need practice.
I think IRL is a long shot. There’s not that many of us. I don’t think there’s an “ideologically neutral” ground, though I don’t find this place “transphobic”. I can see how maybe there’s a lens where it seems trans skeptical, but I think you’re almost always gonna get that in a community for whom transition didn’t work for.
You’re welcome to ask me any Qs you have about MTFTM. I have been detrans about 18mo. I don’t have medical research data but anecdotally I have quite a lot of experience.
Depends on your testes. Have you have bloods done? Once you’re at normal male T levels, thing should be back to normal. But if you fucked up your balls enough that they’re not recovering properly, that might cause issues. I had an orchi so must take T. I think after about 2-3 months things had gotten back to how I (vaguely) remember them being before transition.
Depends on the extent of your transition and detransition. No one’s had a negative reaction for me. And I still have some breast tissue and an orchiectomy. But I look like a guy. Maybe slightly younger than I am, but yeah. I’ve been on T for like 18mo.
I think it feels very similar from what I can remember. Actually even better for me, as I have higher T than I naturally did. But there are also issues associated with that. The only negative is the shame (reminded of your transition a lot) and the inconvenience of applying gel each day or having to have injections.
Having gone back and read your old post, I would add that I am straight. I think gender is inextricably linked to sexuality but that’s something many people want to deny. Because I am gynephilic and you are androphilic there will be significant differences in our reasons and approach to trans/detrans. I don’t know if I can help you with philosophical questions, but if you have practical questions, maybe I can help.
Happy to discuss things more philosophically also but our perspectives may be quite different. All the best.
So in my experience, people care way less than you’d think. Chances are if they were willing to accept you as trans in the first place, they’re going to be willing to accept you detransing. Possibly there might be some tension with people super invested in gender stuff but I haven’t had an issue with it. It was quite liberating and almost fun detransitioning. It seems strange to me to transform from a “straight woman” to a straight man but roommates, family, etc took it in their stride. They just want you to be comfortable.
I detransitioned because I was miserable and aside from killing myself, detrans seemed like the only other radical option to try. I had no energy, was rarely leaving the house, etc etc. I thought maybe going back on T and identifying as a man would mean I wouldn’t need to worry about that. That has worked to some extent although I’ve had to confront my original issues with masculinity and socialising as a man.
Because I had an orchiectomy and still have small breasts, I have not had confidence in heterosexual dating/sex. I have had interest from men and women though. I think what’s stopping me is my own insecurities rather than other people actually being put off by my body. Recently I’ve been with a woman and she doesn’t think twice about what I consider shameful things about my body.
I think it depends what kind of dynamic you’re after. Like, will you stay quite feminine or try to masc it up. I’m sure you could find plenty of interest as a femboy if that would interest you. I dunno, I’m showing my ignorance about male-male relationships here I guess. I don’t know if you’ve had surgeries or if you plan to stay on hormones and just identify or what, but these factors will obviously make a big difference.
PM if you wanna chat more.