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Reddit user /u/cherrytea0's Detransition Story

Transitioned: 18 -> Detransitioned: 21
male
low self-esteem
took hormones
regrets transitioning
depression
got bottom surgery
benefited from non-affirming therapy
ocd
This story is from the comments listed below, summarised by AI.
On Reddit, people often share their experiences across multiple comments or posts. To make this information more accessible, our AI gathers all of those scattered pieces into a single, easy-to-read summary and timeline. All system prompts are noted on the prompts page.

Sometimes AI can hallucinate or state things that are not true. But generally, the summarised stories are accurate reflections of the original comments by users.
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 inauthentic. The comments demonstrate:

  • Personal, nuanced experience with mental health (OCD, BPD) and detransition.
  • Consistent, empathetic advice that aligns with the complex realities of detransition, including non-binary expression and medical reversal.
  • A natural, conversational tone with appropriate edits and clarifications.

The passion and perspective are consistent with a genuine desister/detransitioner.

About me

I was born male, and my journey started as a teenager with intense self-hatred and disgust over being a guy. My mental health, including OCD, fueled an obsessive need to figure out my gender, which led me to take hormones and have an orchiectomy. I now deeply regret that permanent surgery. I've detransitioned and live as a male again, but I've made peace with being a feminine man. I've learned through therapy that my drive to transition came from a place of obsession and low self-esteem, not a true desire to be a woman.

My detransition story

My whole journey with gender started when I was really young, filled with a lot of self-hatred and confusion. I was born male, and as a teenager, I felt a deep disgust with myself just for being a guy. I had this awful internal dialogue where I’d call myself a man and a rapist, which was completely untrue—I was just a scared kid who desperately needed to learn how to love himself. That self-hatred really messed up my mental health and my understanding of my own gender.

I now realize a lot of my fixation on gender was tied to my mental health issues. I have OCD and BPD, and I have a tendency to get completely obsessed with "figuring things out" about myself. I’d latch onto an identity, convinced it was the answer, only to realize later that it was just a fixation and my brain didn't actually want any of it. My questioning wasn't coming from a place of genuine dysphoria or a positive desire to transition; it was more about an obsessive need to solve a problem that might not have even been there.

I did end up taking hormones and having an orchiectomy. After my surgery, I spent a lot of time reassuring others and myself about the practicalities. I learned that while you can't get the original function back—you can't produce sperm or natural testosterone anymore—there are options. You can get testosterone through shots and there are cosmetic surgeries like scrotoplasty that can restore the appearance. It was important for me to frame it as a medical error, something that happens to people with all sorts of procedures, and not something to be deeply ashamed of.

Ultimately, I detransitioned. I stopped taking estrogen and now live as a male again, but I’ve made peace with being a feminine man. I still have long hair, I shave my legs, I wear women’s shirts and makeup sometimes. Detransitioning for me didn’t mean forcing myself to be hyper-masculine or gender-conforming. I found a way to express my femininity without believing I had to be a woman to do it. It’s completely valid to be a male who is feminine.

Looking back, my thoughts on gender are that it's a very complex thing, and for some people like me, the drive to transition can be tangled up with other issues like OCD, low self-esteem, and depression. I deeply regret the permanent changes, especially the orchiectomy. I wish I had taken things slower and focused on therapy to understand the root of my feelings instead of acting on them from a place of self-hatred. I’ve benefited a lot from therapy that wasn't just about affirming a trans identity but about really digging into where those feelings came from in the first place.

Here is a timeline of my journey:

Age Event
Teenager Began experiencing intense self-hatred and disgust about being male.
18 Started obsessively questioning my gender identity, influenced by OCD.
19 Began taking estrogen and testosterone blockers.
20 Underwent an orchiectomy.
21 Stopped hormone therapy and began living as a detransitioned male.

Top Comments by /u/cherrytea0:

6 comments • Posting since September 18, 2021
Reddit user cherrytea0 (detrans male) explains that scrotoplasty and testosterone therapy are available to help a detransitioner restore genital appearance and hormone levels, framing it as a medical error that is not shameful.
53 pointsJan 19, 2022
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Scrotoplasty and testosterone therapy are available for trans men so they're available for you too. You'll be able to restore your genitals to near their previous appearance and get your testosterone back in time if that's what you choose. It sucks but you just made an error in medical treatment, it happens to lots of people for all kind of procedures, it's not shameful or a reflection on you as a person.

Reddit user cherrytea0 (detrans male) explains that detransitioning doesn't require gender conformity, sharing his own experience with crossdressing, long hair, and makeup while affirming that dating as a feminine man is possible.
17 pointsSep 20, 2021
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Detransitioning doesn't have to mean committing to being gender conforming. Crossdressing and being feminine as a male is totally valid, I think this sub is iffy on HRT but ik even that isn't unknown. I still have long hair, shave my legs, wear women's shirts and wear makeup sometimes etc. Idk if this is exactly what you're looking for, but detransitioning/being feminine doesn't necessarily need to be an either/or, and if dating is a concern of yours there are plenty of cis girls out there who go for feminine guys.

Reddit user cherrytea0 (detrans male) explains how self-hatred and internalizing negative feelings about one's birth sex can have debilitating effects, advising therapy and self-compassion to understand the root of gender dysphoria.
6 pointsSep 25, 2021
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Hey, I know it sounds cliched but it's not healthy to come at this kind of stuff from a place of self hatred. You're still very young and you have a whole life ahead of you to figure yourself out. When I was your age I felt really similarly, feeling disgusted with myself for being amab, calling myself a man and a rapist and stuff when I was just a scared kid who needed to love himself more, and it really screwed up both my gender identity and mental health in general.

Internalizing those feelings early in your life can have debilitating ripple effects. I would really suggest seeking therapy if you can and trying to make space for yourself to heal and give your feelings about your gender real consideration – not necessarily to go in the direction of transitioning, but at least to understand where they're coming from. Everyone deserves that.

Reddit user cherrytea0 (detrans male) explains the physical effects of an orchiectomy, noting loss of natural testosterone production and sperm, but clarifies the penis remains functional and the procedure is mostly cosmetic.
5 pointsJan 20, 2022
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I mean your dick will still work fine afaik, depends what function you're talking about? You won't have testosterone in your body unless you go on T shots, you won't be able to produce sperm or have sensation in them, but that's about it. They're just endocrine glands, it's not like they do much when you're on E + blockers anyway

Edit: Sorry, didn't realize you weren't OP. Yeah, they won't produce T but you can get that exogenously at least, for what that's worth. It's mostly cosmetic. IIRC they use silicone or something

Reddit user cherrytea0 (detrans male) explains how questioning one's gender can be a symptom of OCD or BDD, advising to focus on whether the desire to transition is positive or just a fixation.
5 pointsSep 18, 2021
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This sounds a lot like OCD, especially if you truly don't experience any dysphoria or object-level issues with living as a man. It could be helpful to focus on figuring out whether you feel enthusiastic and positive about the idea of transitioning on its own merits or whether it's just a fixation on the question itself. I have OCD and BPD and often get really obsessed with "figuring things out" about myself that feel irrelevant later or convincing myself to try out identities the rest of my brain doesn't want to have.

I would suggest just taking it slow, thinking about the problem in the most grounded, concrete terms you can think of, and trying not to stress too much about finding an answer immediately. I hope things work out!

Reddit user cherrytea0 (detrans male) explains why initial laser hair removal results are often temporary, noting that hair from resting follicles will regrow and treated follicles can recover, requiring multiple sessions for permanent removal.
3 pointsSep 23, 2021
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That does sound unusually effective for one session, but typically a lot of the initial hair loss from laser is temporary and will go away as follicles that were resting during the treatment start producing hair and some of the treated ones recover (which is why multiple sessions are required to kill them for good). I don't know if you can expect complete recovery but it will at least get a lot better within weeks to months.