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 a fake account. The user provides highly specific, personal, and emotionally charged details about their transition, detransition, and subsequent religious conversion. The narrative is complex, internally consistent, and reflects the passionate and often angry perspective common among individuals who feel they were harmed by their medical transition. The depth of personal reflection, especially regarding their faith, is not typical of bot behavior.
About me
I started testosterone at seventeen after just two rushed therapy appointments, and it caused permanent changes to my body and health. I stopped years later when I realized going off it didn't hurt my mental health, which made me question everything. My decision to fully detransition was solidified when I converted to Catholicism, which gave me a new perspective. I deeply regret that the medical system failed to protect me as a vulnerable teenager. Now, I'm reconnecting with my faith and finding peace in nature as I navigate life as a woman again.
My detransition story
My transition journey started when I was seventeen. I was very young and struggling, and after only two therapy appointments, I was given a letter for hormones. The second appointment was just a formality; the therapist was ready to write it after the first one. I then had a single doctor's appointment to get some bloodwork done, and I walked out with a prescription for testosterone. No one ever asked me about other mental health issues I might have had. They didn't try to uncover any other diagnoses that could have been influencing my decision.
I took testosterone for several years. It caused permanent changes to my body that I now have to live with. I have PCOS that was probably caused by the testosterone. Binding my chest also did permanent damage to my ribs and tissue. Now, I have to navigate the world as a woman with a voice that sounds male and other masculinized features, which honestly makes me feel unsafe at times.
Stopping testosterone wasn't a planned decision at first. I stopped temporarily because it was too expensive, but I realized my mental health didn't get worse like I thought it would. In fact, it stayed the same, which made me start to really question everything. Over the next two years, I gradually stopped presenting as male.
The final push to detransition completely came when I decided to convert to Catholicism. I had been fighting the urge to convert for about five years, bouncing between other churches, but I eventually became convinced it was the truth through studying and prayer. My faith became the most important thing, and it helped me see my body and my life in a different way. I know the Church has serious problems, but my belief in God is separate from that.
Looking back, I absolutely regret transitioning. The medical system failed me by not looking deeper into my mental state and just giving me hormones so quickly. I was a teenager and I wasn't protected from making a decision that caused serious, lifelong harm to my body. I benefited from stepping away from affirming therapy and finding a different path through my faith and reconnecting with things that are real and beautiful, like nature, which has been essential for my mental health.
Age | Event |
---|---|
17 | Was prescribed testosterone after only two therapy sessions and one doctor's visit. |
17-22 | Took testosterone and lived as male. |
22 | Stopped testosterone temporarily due to cost, then permanently after realizing my mental health was stable. |
22-24 | Gradually stopped presenting as male over two years. |
24 | Fully detransitioned and returned to living as a woman, influenced by my conversion to Catholicism. |
Top Comments by /u/katrinaguerrier:
I spent 5 years trying to avoid converting, oscillating between being a committed Episcopalian and a vague non-practicing Christian. Despite that the urge to convert only grew. I became convinced - through study, prayer, and personal experiences - that the faith is true and that the Catholic Church is the church Jesus Christ, God incarnate, established. (Against my will, mind you. I say that I came into the Church kicking and screaming.)
And abuse can't change that. I am very angry about the abuse crisis and struggle with it, but I'd sooner end up in the SSPX or something yet more fringe than I would outside the Catholic faith at this point. What is true is true regardless of how the people who are supposed to protect and hand on that truth have acted. They are fallible (even the Pope in all but one set of circumstances). And they can be - and have been, historically - quite evil in their actions. But the identity of the Catholic Church transcends any person, group of people, or merely human institution. The Saints as a group are a better image of what the Church is about than any particular set of bishops, cardinals, Pope.
So I look at where I at last found Truth; hope to soon receive the grace of the Sacraments; and aim to cooperate with the will of God and thereby be transformed into one of those Saints.
Stopping T was originally temporary because of the expense. Ended up being permanent when I noticed my mental health didn't decline like I expected.
Gradually presented less and less as male over the course of about two years. Bit the bullet & went all the way when I decided to convert to Catholicism.
It took two therapy appointments to get a letter. The second was really a formality; he would've written it at the first appointment but I didn't believe that. He pushed it more at the second.
After that I had a single doctor's appointment to get my base hormone levels checked, then I was given a prescription for testosterone.
I was seventeen years old. No one asked about comorbidities. No one worked to uncover any of my relevant psych diagnoses.
Do you really think you would have benefited from being restricted from doing so?
Yes, being restricted from doing serious harm to my body at the age of 17 (when I was given access to hormones after two visits to a therapist and one visit to a doctor) would have been beneficial to me.
Binding did permanent damage to me. I have PCOS probably coming from the testosterone. And I get to deal with a masculinized body while navigating the world as a woman, which puts me at risk, daily.
Can't advise this enough. Concrete and plastic aren't what the human brain evolved to love. My priest lists "something beautiful to appreciate" at the same level of essential for mental health as proper eating & sleep.
Psychiatric drugs have a place, but so does wood, water, stone, and flowers.