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 red flags suggesting it is a bot or inauthentic.
The user provides highly specific, personal, and medically detailed narratives about their detransition experience, including:
- Specific HRT methods (IM injections, 4mg patches).
- Detailed physical and emotional changes over time.
- Complex, ongoing medical issues (thyroid, autoimmune disease) and surgical consultations (DIEPFLAP) with specific location references (DC, John Hopkins).
- A nuanced and introspective psychological explanation for their initial transition.
The writing is emotionally varied (passionate, frustrated, hopeful) and contains natural, conversational asides ("Lol," "wtf?"). The experiences described, including difficulty finding surgeons willing to operate on detransitioners, align with known challenges within the community. This level of consistent, complex detail is not typical of bot-generated content.
About me
I started presenting as male at fourteen because my extreme social anxiety made me hate being seen as a girl, and it felt like a protective shield. I was on testosterone for over two years and had top surgery, but I always clung to little bits of femininity and felt a deep conflict. A turning point was realizing I wanted my boyfriend to see me and treat me as a woman, which started my journey back to accepting myself as female. I've been off hormones for over a year and have regained a feminine appearance, but I now struggle with serious health issues and deeply regret my surgery. I’m learning to be confident as a woman and am looking into reconstruction surgery to feel whole again.
My detransition story
My whole journey with transition and detransition was complicated and rooted in a lot of pain. I’ve always struggled with extreme social anxiety, to the point where I hated anyone looking at me. I was just so uncomfortable in my own skin. When I was about fourteen, I found the transgender community online through social media, and it felt like I had found a solution. Presenting as male took the edge off my social anxiety; it was like a shield. I could step out of my own identity, which I hated, and into one that felt safer.
I started testosterone and was on it for over two years. I did intramuscular injections and then switched to a patch. During that time, I passed 100% as male. But there were always signs that it wasn't truly right for me. I hated talking about my gender identity. When people asked deep questions, I knew the answers I was supposed to give, but I didn't know what I actually felt in my heart. Even then, I still clung to little bits of femininity, like buying cute stuffed animals or clothes. Deep down, I had a longing for those things.
The biggest turning point was with my boyfriend. I never wanted him to call me "he." I wanted him to treat me like a princess. He finally told me that I couldn't transition and still expect to be treated like a girl whenever I wanted. That hit me hard. I realized I wanted to be seen as a woman by him more than I wanted to be seen as a man. That started me on the path of slowly accepting other feminine parts of myself.
Looking back, I think a big part of why I transitioned was because of a traumatic experience I had with a man when I was very young. It really warped how I saw myself and how I wanted to be perceived. Instead of confronting that fear and learning to love myself, I hid from it. The "shield" of being male worked for a while, but it wasn't me.
I stopped hormones a little over a year ago. The changes started happening pretty quickly. My fat redistributed, and I became very curvy again, especially in my hips. My face softened and became more feminine. My hair grew back thick and fast. My voice had deepened a lot, but with a lot of practice and frustration—I cried about it many times—I learned to talk in a higher register that passes as female now. My period came back within a month, but I started birth control to stop it because I have an autoimmune disease that makes my periods very painful.
My health hasn't been the same since HRT. I never had health problems before, but about a year on testosterone, I started getting recurring kidney stones for no apparent reason. More recently, I’ve been dealing with serious thyroid issues, fluctuating between hypo and hyper, and I had to undergo radioactive iodine scans. These problems run in my family, but I truly believe hormones either caused or heavily exacerbated them.
I had top surgery, and I regret it. I hate the scars and how it looks. Even after surgery, some fat has come back to my chest, and I can fill an A-cup bra, but I am looking into reconstruction surgery. I've learned about a procedure called DIEPFLAP, where they use fat from your abdomen, but it's been hard to find a surgeon willing to operate on me because I'm detransitioned. They see it as a gender reassignment surgery and won't do it.
I don't regret my journey because it led me to where I am now, but I do regret the permanent changes, especially the surgery and the health complications. My thoughts on gender now are that it's okay to be a woman. For me, it was about learning to have confidence in that. A question that really helped me was: how do you want to be remembered at the end of your life? As a great man or a great woman? I realized I couldn't picture myself as an old man. I saw myself as an old lady, and that was okay.
| Age | Event |
|---|---|
| 14 | First exposed to transgender community online and began to present as male. |
| ~16-18 | Was on testosterone hormone therapy (HRT) for over 2 years. |
| 18 | Stopped taking testosterone. Began the process of detransition. |
| 19 | Had been off HRT for over a year. Health complications (kidney stones, thyroid issues) emerged. |
| 19 | Consulting surgeons for breast reconstruction surgery after top surgery. |
Top Comments by /u/ickybird:
I can’t give you advice on whether or not to detransition but I’ll tell you my experience going off of hormones.
I was on testosterone for two years as well before stopping. I was doing IM injections then switched to 4mg patches before stopping completely. The first thing I noticed was fat redistribution. I looked in the mirror one day and realized I was getting very curvy and my butt was getting way bigger. Next thing I noticed was my hair getting much thicker and growing longer like a weed. It grew probably four inches in the year I have been off of HRT. My face started becoming more feminine within the first three months. I have much more of a babydoll appearance than I did before. Shaving definitely helps (I actually got laser hair removal on a lot of my body), I didn’t wear makeup for a while and then when I started I was like obsessed. It’s died down a little now but I’ve gotten pretty good at it and will do a basic look most days. My acne flared up BAD but has since evened out. I started trying to speak in a higher register as my voice did deepen substantially. It took a lot of time and frustration (there are definitely times where I’ve cried and cried over my voice), but with practice I was able to train my vocal chords to talk in a higher pitch that passes regularly as female. I think it sounds way more androgynous but I never get misgendered. I went to an endocrinologist about 6 months off of HRT and my hormone levels were normal for a female my age (awesome!). I do take birth control so I don’t get my period (unless I forget it) just because mine are so painful and long-lasting.
I was also 100% male passing before detransition but I’ve been pretty happy with the changes so far. One thing I also noticed with fat redistribution is that even post-top surgery, fat has come back to my chest. I can wear an A-cup push-up bra and look 100% natural. I still hate the scars and appearance under the clothes so I am looking to have a revision surgery but for right now it’s livable. I hope this helped!
Oh I haven’t even thought of bras with little pockets specifically for inserts!!! I’ve bought bras and inserts but not the combo. Thank you! I’ll definitely have to try that. And unfortunately yes. All 3 surgeons I met with told me they specifically will not operate because I am detrans. It’s very sad but I can’t force a doctor to perform surgery and I honestly wouldn’t be comfortable with a surgeon performing if they weren’t comfortable either, you know. It just sucks. But! There have to be surgeons out there who will do this, as I’ve seen some detrans women successfully get reconstruction :)
I can try to sum up the best I can in a few words.
I had a very difficult childhood mental health-wise - I’ve always struggled with extreme social anxiety. It got so bad that I hated when anybody would look at me at all. I was always so uncomfortable in my own skin. When I was roughly fourteen, I was exposed to the transgender community through social media. I thought I had found a solution - I felt more comfortable when I presented myself as male because it took away some of the edge of my social anxiety. If I had to really think about why, I would guess that it was a way of stepping outside of my own identity which I was so insanely uncomfortable with and into one where I had more protection. I used being “male” almost like a shield.
My indications that I was not truly transgender:
- I hated talking about my gender identity! If people had deep, introspective questions, I knew the answer I was supposed to say. However, I didn’t know what answer I actually felt with my heart.
- I was so uncomfortable with being perceived as a girl yet even in my darkest most misguided days, I still clung to my femininity in small ways. I bought cute stuffed animals, cute clothes, sometimes makeup. Deep down, I had a longing to be connected to these feminine things.
- I never wanted my boyfriend to call me “he”. I wanted my boyfriend to treat me like a princess. One day he straight up told me, if you want to transition that’s fine but you can’t transition and still expect me to treat you like a girl whenever you want. Well, that struck home. I realized that I wanted him to treat me like a woman more than I wanted him to treat me like a man. Once I was comfortable with that and accepted that, it was so much easier accepting other feminine parts of myself. I slowly realized that it was okay to be a woman, and I very VERY slowly gained confidence in that until I decided that I 100% did not want to continue transitioning.
In all honesty, I think I transitioned because I was just so uncomfortable with being a woman. I had a bad experience with a man at a very young age which definitely took a heavy toll on how I wanted to be perceived in society as I grew up. Instead of being able to confront this fear and grow to accept myself and love myself and have confidence, I instead shrunk into my fear and found a shield that worked for me. One thing that stuck with me when I heard it - how do you want to die? When you’re being lowered into your grave (this is all metaphorical), do you want your family members and loved ones gathered around looking at the body of an old man? Or do you want them to be looking at the body of an old woman? For me, when I pictured this, I just couldn’t see myself in the old man. I tried and I tried, but it just didn’t fit. I just saw me. And even though at the time it was scary and I didn’t want to accept it, I saw me as an old lady. So maybe it will help you, how do you want to be remembered at the end of your life? As a great, wonderful man, or as a great, wonderful woman?
I’ve been off of HRT for a little over a year now after 2+ years of the treatment. I did IM injections and then swapped to the patch so my levels were tapering off before I stopped completely. My period came back very quickly (about a month) but I started birth control to stop them because I have an autoimmune disease that makes my periods really difficult. Within the first four months, I lost a LOT of weight. This wasn’t necessarily due to HRT but a shift in my eating habits. I wasn’t as hungry as I was before, and as I lost weight I noticed that I was seeing a lot more curves. I was naturally very curvy before HRT and my hips were the most noticeable thing for me. I remember looking in the mirror one day naked and being like.. wtf? Is that really me? Lol. After that, my face definitely slimmed out and became more feminine in feature. Today, my voice is easily female-passing, although it did take some vocal work on my part at home. It takes some practice but if you can succeed in talking with your “head” rather than your “chest” voice, then you’ll sound naturally more feminine. My body hair growth has slowed down a lot but I didn’t notice these changes until very recently. I get laser hair removal on my face because I hate shaving there. My hair has gotten much thicker and healthier but I still experience some loss, again to my autoimmune disease so I’m not sure how much HRT is effecting this aspect.
First, I’d look out for fluctuation in weight and fat distribution as well as your period. Those two things would most likely start happening before you notice much else!
I have recently gone through thyroid exams after discovering fluctuating levels from hypo to hyperthyroidism. I went through radioactive iodine scanning as my doctors have no idea why my thyroid is hyperactive. I had no problems health-wise before HRT. While thyroid problems run in my family, I have a worry that hormones could have heavily effected or exacerbated a thyroid issue. One year on HRT I also struggled with reoccurring kidney stones - the doctors also had no idea why. I had no such problems prior to starting HRT and nothing had changed about my diet, lifestyle, medications, health history besides the hormone medication. I truly believe that HRT has long-lasting health effects that could be more dangerous in people who are pre-disposed. I hope your lawsuit goes well and I’m sorry you’ve had similar negative health experiences stemming from HRT.
I detransitioned to the people close to me first. I had my family start, then my friends, and then when I realized I genuinely did not like being referred to as male, that’s when I made the decision to openly start correcting people everywhere. I was presenting fully feminine and it just didn’t feel right to be referred to as male anymore
So my acne wasn’t Awful pre-T but it definitely existed. It got pretty bad on HRT and it did spike up and have a pretty decent flair after I stopped. It’s just a matter of finding what skincare works for you. Give your skin about a month for the acne to really run it’s course and it should start leveling off and disappearing. My best advice for the acne is to try and ignore it as best as you can. It won’t get worse than it did when you first started HRT, at least not in my case. Just keep a regular skincare routine!! As of today my skin looks really great, way better than it ever did while I was on HRT.
I’ve actually met with a few surgeons to look into this for myself. What I’ve learned - there’s an option to forgo implants called DIEPFLAP. Basically they do an incision along your waistband, give you what is essentially a tummy tuck, and then put the fat they take off of your abdomen area and put it in your chest. It’s a very invasive surgery, only a few surgeons perform it, and it requires a lengthy hospital stay. After a few weeks, you can option to have liposuction and have that fat injected into your chest for a bigger cup size. There’s also the implant option. Implants have come really far in the medical world - there’s multiple options including saline. My mom had saline implants just for cosmetic reasons - she had one incident where one popped and she had to have a revision surgery but otherwise she’s never complained of any problems. For reconstruction, you may require a tissue expander to expand the muscles before the implant is inserted. This is a more common and less invasive surgery.
I am personally looking for a surgeon who specializes in DIEPFLAP or something akin to this as I want my scarring to be completely covered. Luckily I live in the DC area so I am accessible to all DC surgeons as well as centers like John Hopkins. However a problem I have run into is that no surgeon wants to do this operation on me due to the fact that it is technically a gender reassignment surgery - at least in their eyes. I’m looking into setting up consultations with surgeons who have prior experience working with reconstruction as well as transgender patients (even tho I’m not transgender obviously) in hopes that they will be more willing. Otherwise I was recommended John Hopkins which I have not tried yet due to their very high consultation fee but I might have to give it a go. I hope this helped.