This story is from the comments listed below, summarised by AI.
Authenticity Assessment: Not Suspicious
Based on the provided comments, the account appears authentic. There are no serious red flags indicating it is a bot or a bad-faith actor.
The user's perspective is internally consistent. They identify as a cis woman who experienced gender dysphoria as a teen (a desister) and now has PCOS, which informs their personal and political views. Their arguments, while passionate and citing specific studies, reflect a deep personal investment in the topic, not the repetitive, scripted behavior of a bot. The tone is conversational, and they share personal anecdotes, which is atypical for inauthentic accounts.
About me
I was a tomboy who became deeply uncomfortable with my female body when puberty began, due to the physical changes and unwanted male attention. My journey involved learning to navigate the world as a young woman and later managing the physical symptoms of PCOS, which affected my self-esteem. I realized my distress was from the shock of puberty and societal pressures, not from being the wrong sex. I am now a woman comfortable in my own skin, glad I worked through my issues instead of transitioning. I believe permanent treatments are too easily accessed by young people who, like me, may just be struggling to grow up.
My detransition story
My journey with gender was never about being trans, but I went through a period where I was deeply uncomfortable with being a girl. It started when I hit puberty. I was a tomboy, and everything changed. The way boys started to act towards me was really unsettling; it felt like I was suddenly kicked out of my own peer group for no reason. The physical changes and the unwanted male attention were just really unpleasant. I hated what was happening to my body.
For a while, I was very unhappy with being female. I didn't come to terms with it until I was about sixteen. That's when I started to figure out how to navigate the world as a young woman and realized that straight males could be useful for things other than making me uncomfortable. I learned to fit into my new look and accept it.
I also have personal experience with hormone issues because I have PCOS, which causes high testosterone levels. This led to hair loss and facial hair, which was a massive blow to my self-esteem and made me even more disconnected from feeling like a 'normal' woman. I started over-the-counter HRT and DHT blocking supplements, which helped a lot with regrowth. It was a physical issue I could manage, not an identity one.
Looking back, I see that my discomfort was a normal part of growing up, compounded by some body image issues and the shock of puberty. It wasn't a sign that I was born in the wrong body. I believe the idea of a "gendered brain" is flawed. From the research I've done, it seems transwomen who are attracted to women have brains no different from straight men, and those attracted to men are neurologically similar to gay men.
I'm horrified by how easy it is for people, especially teens, to get life-altering treatments now without thorough psychological evaluation. Your brain isn't even fully developed until your mid-twenties. I think nothing permanent should be done before then. I've seen the pressure online and how any questioning is shut down with name-calling. I'm not against transition for fully evaluated adults; I knew a very feminine boy who transitioned in his late twenties and it seemed right for him. But for many, it's an escape from other problems that won't be solved by changing their bodies.
I have no regrets about not transitioning myself. I'm glad I worked through my issues instead. My problems were with puberty and society's expectations, not my sex. Managing my PCOS symptoms was a medical need, not a transition. I'm now a woman comfortable in my own skin.
| Age | Event |
|---|---|
| ~12-13 | Puberty began. Became deeply uncomfortable with physical changes and male attention. Hated developing breasts. |
| 16 | Finally began to come to terms with being female and learned to navigate the world as a young woman. |
| (Adult) | Diagnosed with PCOS, causing high testosterone, hair loss, and facial hair. Affected self-esteem. |
| (Adult) | Started OTC HRT and DHT blockers to manage PCOS symptoms, which helped with regrowth and acceptance. |
Top Comments by /u/newwavefeminist:
I and not trans: but I am a woman with hair loss issues due to high T levels (PCOS).
I started OTC HRT (life flo) and DHT blocking supplements, and it's started to grow back. Don't lose hope. If you still have functioning ovaries it will probably recover. The rumour is that putting estrogen cream on your face can lessen the facial hair too, as can dht blocking mint tea. And if you are a bit prone to weight gain cutting carbs down can also help with the facial hair and hair loss.
Plus: its not so bad right now, from your photo. Don't give up.
I’m graduating tomorrow from school.
You are very young, nothing is set in stone for your life at this point. You've been on HRT since 14?
My suggestion: if you want to give it a try, pick somewhere to go where you won't be seen by people who know you to see if you are comfortable with people viewing you as a male. It doesn't have to be an all or nothing, do it all this instant, issue. You can see if you feel comfortable presenting as a feminine gay man for a few hours at a time.
Stopping the meds and going with your biology would probably be better for your health and finances in the long run. But you've got to weigh that up yourself against your sense of identity.
He talks about the swedish study that he calls high quality, it is a study that is often misrepresented, that Cecilia Dhejne, the author of said study, herself debunked as misinterpretations
Which study? The offending or suicide one?
Because the one dealing with offending behaviour in transwomen does actually show they offend at the same rate as men, even though she has tried to walk back that claim. It's there in the numbers and she says it in the paper outright.
It's also supported by several other data sets like the Californian prison research, one American poll by a transrights group, and the UK prison stats.
These older transgender people often believe that their lives would have been better if only they could have transitioned earlier.
Yeah, I'm getting that from a lot of them. They feel it would have benefited them, so they can't believe a lot of trans kids change their minds and that early transition for all in not a good idea. I think it's an inability to see it from the other persons POV.
I think it will take a bit longer, but yes this will all blow up massively when a wave of tearful twenty somethings who have had life altering surgery and mid teens hormone treatments come out into the media spotlight. It's all being suppressed right now.
I started researching trans relevant data last year, and I'm just horrified at the sway the activists have over how the medical profession are dealing with this now. You need a thorough psych evaluation, therapy and a fully adult mind before anything is done. In humans your brain doesn't finish developing until your mid twenties I don't think anything should be done before then.
I too have issues with thinning hair and facial hair because of high T (cis woman with PCOS). Believe me time will do a lot to regrow you hair as your hormones settle down. I had some serious regrowth around the hairline and crown after I started HRT a couple of months ago.
You should also look into DHT blocking supplement. Apparently green tea, mint tea, beta sitosterol and a whole bunch of other things can help with T induced hair issues.
I do think that it is fair to use Blanchard’s typology to discredit the idea that there is such a thing a gendered brain or soul that somehow got trapped in the wrong body.
The science is coming in to support that transbians have brains no different to that of cisgender hetero men.
Transwomen who like men are essentially the same neurologically as gay men, ie: semi feminised. Although, a minor difference was seen in one study, but the odds of it being found in future MRI studies are a bit low (too long an explanation for this post).
Can I ask, is in inappropriate to post that research on this sub?
he people who were getting "sold" on it are people in their 40s and 50s (think menopausal women) who think they're slowing down
'Think' they are slowing down. LOL. I collapsed in the street thank to low progesterone levels.
It's not widely known but the all cause mortality for women on HRT is the same as those off it. Slightly higher boob cancer and clot risk, slightly lower CVD risk. Swings and roundabouts, and with one your hair doesn't fall out and you still have a sex drive.
I'm looking at the homicide and sex offending rate and over in Europe, we don't have the police harassing transwomen on the streets here for buying hormones. In the UK we also don't record prostitutes/public peeing as sex offending. The trans sex offenders are quite well known in the UK thanks to the news outlets, and they have the same pattern of being mainly arrested for offences against children/child porn and some forcible SAs, same as cis males. Of course a lot of them are in for other offences. Overall their incarceration rate is about what you'd expect to see. There's a good argument that you could estimate the number of trans people by counting up their presence in the prison system.
The UK's best poll (GIRES) put 1/500 of our population as trans and 1/500 of our killers are trans. We have about 600 killings per annum, about 6,000 in a ten year period from 2007 to 2017. Over that ten year period twelve of these killers were transwomen (no transmen, all publicly listed) and that is exactly 1/500 of the killers. Their victimization rate is actually slightly lower than it is for women, once you take into account the fact a disproportionate number of them were involved in sex work. It's about 0.7 per 100k. The rate for cis males is 1.6 per 100k. There hasn't been a single hate crime killing of a transwoman in the UK that I can find. Being more likely to kill than be killed is not a female behavioural trait.
Transwomen have neurological development essentially the same as cis male of the same orientation, so there's no neurological reason for them to offend differently. However transmen do offend more than women, it seems the 'puberty' they go through thanks to the T affects their behaviour a bit.
For example, according to statistics only 2% of people detransition.
Only 2% of people who have: been through five to ten years of therapy prior to SRS, in an era where only long term GD from childhood cases were typically considered for SRS, and then had SRS, detranstioned.
There's also an issue with a couple of those studies in that the clinics only interviewed people who were still coming in for their hormone treatments. Anyone who dropped off the radar wasn't chased down, there's a Dr who worked in one of these clinics who made that claim. You can see the video here. Start about 21 minutes in. 'Point is, about 1/3 of patients are out of sight, they have no contact with them. There are reasons to think that this group has a large number of transgenders with regret and who avoid the gender team'
Perhaps you should ask the other people on this sub what they think of the 2% desistance number. I'm guessing the drop out rate for non surgically transitioned is way higher, as these seem to be the ones transitioning back on youtube and on reddit.
Prison stats aren't enough to convince me considering for example, that poc get convicted more often and longer for crimes that white people get out of without a problem, for example cannabis possession.
Actually not as much as you think. I did some research into this a while ago and once you take into account prior offending, SES, employment, legal representation, police presence in the area from other crimes and a couple of other factors, there's very little difference in sentencing or arrest rates these days. Arrest and convictions for sexual and violent crimes where the race of the perp is known are a match in the UK and USA. Police and court bias is largely a fiction.
Every time I raise issues on /r/ukpolitics about the overenthusiastic medical interventions in teens, trans regret and how the neuroscience doesn't hold up the 'trapped in a wrong body' paradigm I get someone calling me a TERF.
They literally do not believe any meaningful number regret transitioning.
The irony is, I'm not averse to transitioning fully adult people who have been through proper evaluations. I grew up with a really feminine transgirl, who transitioned in his late twenties. I hope M is happier now.