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Reddit user /u/throwawayyyy174927's Detransition Story

Transitioned: 26 -> Detransitioned: 30
male
low self-esteem
internalised homophobia
hated breasts
took hormones
regrets transitioning
escapism
depression
now infertile
anxiety
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.

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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 story is highly detailed, internally consistent, and emotionally complex. It describes a multi-year personal journey with specific, believable details about their transition, detransition, and the psychological reasoning behind both. The narrative includes common detransitioner themes like community disillusionment, medical skepticism, and the struggle to reintegrate a male identity, all expressed with a rawness and nuance that is difficult to fabricate. The passion and strong opinions align with the expected stance of someone who feels they were harmed by their experience.

About me

I started obsessing about being a woman when I was just a kid, and it took over my life in my twenties, leading me to start hormones. I took estrogen for three years but never really passed and felt like a freak trying to live as a woman. Getting a serious job where I presented as a man again was the turning point that helped me rediscover my confidence. Meeting my girlfriend made me feel comfortable being a man again and showed me a future I actually wanted. I stopped hormones and now believe my obsession was a mental health issue, and I focus on building a real life instead of my appearance.

My detransition story

My journey with gender started when I was very young, around eight years old, with an obsession about being a woman. This feeling would come and go in intensity throughout my life. On the outside, I was a normal, successful guy. I did well in school, had a lot of friends, a loving family, was active in sports, and had no trouble dating women. But inside, I was struggling with this persistent thought.

In my mid-twenties, that obsession took over. I was 26, drinking heavily and abusing drugs, constantly fixated on the idea of becoming a woman. I decided to start transitioning and began hormone replacement therapy (HRT). I took estrogen for three years. It gave me small breasts, about an A cup, but it didn't change my basic build. I'm 6'1" with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. I never really passed as a woman, and I rarely even tried to dress like one. I dressed more in a non-binary, they/them style because trying to look like a cis woman made me feel like a freak. I could see it made other people uncomfortable too.

During most of my transition, I was a bartender, drinking a lot, and my life felt like it was going nowhere. I dated within the trans community, but over time, it really turned me off. I found that many of the people I met were dealing with severe mental health issues, autism, or were just very antisocial. Our lives and values didn't align. I also started to have serious problems with trans ideology. As a former athlete, I knew it was absurd to think a male body on hormones could fairly compete against female athletes in sports. I always felt it was unreasonable to expect everyone to ignore reality and just go along with how I felt inside.

The big turning point came when I got a new, high-pressure job. I went to the interview presenting as a man—suit, no makeup, hair in a man bun—because I knew I wouldn't get the job if I looked trans. I got the job and threw myself into my work. I excelled, got promoted quickly, and started to feel like my old, confident self again. For the first time in years, I wasn't constantly thinking about being a woman.

Then I met a woman at work. We started dating, and I felt close enough to tell her about my past. She was surprised but supportive and even encouraged me to be more feminine. But being with her had the opposite effect; it made me feel more comfortable being a man. I could see a future with her—a family, kids, a normal life. It was a clear path that made sense. I realized I was terrible at being a woman and that trying to force it was making me miserable and alienating me from people.

I stopped taking hormones about a year into dating her. I don't regret stopping, but I do have regrets about ever starting. I sometimes struggle with what feels like PTSD, getting flashbacks to cringey things I did or how I must have made my friends and family uncomfortable by forcing them to play along. I still have small breasts, which can be a source of shame, but I've made peace with it. Building muscle and growing chest hair has made them less noticeable, and I can go shirtless without much worry.

I’ve come to believe that my desire to be a woman was rooted in other mental health issues, primarily OCD, and not some innate gender identity. The best thing for me was to stop focusing so much on my appearance and how I was perceived and instead focus on building a life: working hard, going to the gym, building skills, and providing value to others. My core belief now is that how I look is the least important thing about me. What matters is being kind, giving and receiving love, enjoying life, and working toward goals.

I still sometimes wish I could be a woman, but I fully accept that it's not possible. I focus on the life I can have, not the one I can't. My advice to anyone considering detransition is to embrace your natural self, pour your energy into building yourself up, and find fulfillment in real-world accomplishments and relationships.

Age Date (Approximate) Event
8 - First began obsessing over the idea of being a woman.
26 - Started hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
29 - Got a new job presenting as male; began to detransition.
30 - Stopped taking HRT after 3 years.

Top Comments by /u/throwawayyyy174927:

11 comments • Posting since March 13, 2023
Reddit user throwawayyyy174927 (detrans) explains why chopping your balls off is a bad idea, advising to treat your body with respect and to manage the intrusive thought by knowing you will never act on it.
54 pointsApr 3, 2025
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Your body is your temple, treat it with respect. Just because you feel a certain way does not mean that's a truth. You can feel like you want to chop the balls but you can also know that's not something that's ok to do.

As long as you know you will never actually do it, it becomes easier to deal with the intrusive thought

Reddit user throwawayyyy174927 (detrans) explains why acting on feelings is a dangerous modern trend, arguing that suffering is normal and not always a problem to be fixed. They discuss how a lack of brutal honesty creates delusion, using examples from American Idle and trans people being told they "pass," and warn OP that castration will have negative health effects and make them seem like a "freak" to high-quality mates.
33 pointsApr 3, 2025
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Np, I feel like a key issue with modern wokism or just modern society is that we should always act on our feelings. You hear people saying "if you feel that way then that must be your truth" or people online or irl supporting eachother by encouraging them to trust yourself and how you feel.

Reality is, and the way humans understood our own psychology for most of history was that suffering is normal. It's totally normal to suffer both physically and mentally. In today's modern view suffering is seen as something to fix at all cost. So people rush to fix their suffering and in that haste they do follow the right path to peace. We derive value from this world through success, accomplishments and love.

What everyone needs to realize is that just because you feel a certain way doesn't mean you should act on it.

Most people are not able to truly think things through in an objective way, and the people around them often act in a support role that makes you like them. Not in a way that provides brutal honesty.

When you watch American idol back in the day you would get dog shir singers who were shocked because there whole family told them how amazing they are at singing their whole life. But reality was they were terrible

The trans delusion we see so often where trans people are always uplifted, they are told they "pass" or that they are so obviously a woman. Like nah girl you don't pass for shit. Clearly born a male...

In your case If you got your nuts cut off it might provide some breif sexual relief but in the long run could have many negative health drawbacks and most of all it will make high quality mates think your a dumbass or a freak.

Reddit user throwawayyyy174927 (detrans male) explains why he believes being trans is a symptom of underlying mental illness, arguing for treating root causes like OCD and depression instead of affirming a transgender identity.
24 pointsApr 10, 2025
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I'm no medical professional but I have some personal experience and I really think that being "trans" is just a variety of mental illness's / neuro divergence that people self diagnose into transgenderism. For me I beleive my OCD is the main cause. So really what needs to be treated is the mental illness that's causing the desire to become the other gender

I can only speak to MTF, I've never known a trans man but I've spent alot of time interacting with many MTFs both online and irl

Ive noticed many trans people are often extremely miserable, self loathing, anxious, depressed, anti social, autistic or narcissistic.

Of course some trans people seem very neurotypical, however the common trend is trans people generally suffer greatly from a variety of mental illness. Knowing this trans people should certainly be questioned and not affirmed so quickly by medical professionals. Root causeing mentall illness then treat the OCD or Depression, Not transgendering

As you point out, I notice when talking with distressed trans people who want to detrans because they are too ugly as women. They talk how now their life is completely hopeless and they have no will to do anything because they dont look a certain way. Might as well cut my dick off type energy cause there is no point. These people are really just deeply depressed/ autistic and antisocial

The self obsession, inward thinking, and thought loop needs to be interrupted. I somehow convinced myself I was an ugly man who noone would want to be with. My brain thought this while I simultaneously had lots of friends, plenty of girlfriends and boyfriends. I know understand I'm not ugly at all.

Most MTF on cross sex hormones will likely just become less attractive to the majority of the population. As soon as you cross that line, strait cis woman will loose interest and gay men will loose interest more on average. Your dating/friendship pool shrinks drastically. Enter more isolation and anxiety

So if you feel ugly and manly. take hormones and you will now be a more ugly, slightly less manly but still definitely a man but with less strenght and weaker health. Now introduce surgery and you could have life long complications, extreme pain and discomfort and no way to really have sex, and the results could be aesteticly terrible.

It's literally the most fucking insane thing in the world for me to even think about at this point.

It's almost impossible to talk someone out of transition. I should know. People tried to talk me out of it but I just told them they don't understand. I had to learn the hard way and many others do.

Fortunately for me I was too poor and too scared to get surgeries. So all I did was take the pills.

The way my trans delusion was cured came when I started actually trying to build something of my life. As a trans person I was a total looser, worked at a bar, drunk all the time, alcoholic with crippling anxiety. Like I couldn't even drive it was that bad. I was poor and living like a manchild.

When I lost my job to covid, shit got tight. I was going broke so I got a low level manager job at a small retailer. I went so hard there. Something inside me sparked, i just knew I could excel there and I pushed and worked hard days and grinded. I was onsite for 28 days strait one month. Within 1 year I got promoted to the sr manager of the entire site. Quadrupled my salary in 1 year. Suddenly I was making moves, making money, earning respect, securing wins. I didn't even realize it but I literally just became a giga chad without even actively thinking about being trans or detransing. I was just engaged in real life, working hard to earn something and my natural essence began to show. Despite me thinking I was a woman, I've realizes I'm way more naturally masculine than fem.That whole first year at the job I was still taking E... out of habit. I suddenly realized one day. "Why the fuck am I taking this stupid pill" threw the bottle out right then.

Reality is some people really are destined to self loath their entire life. There minds just aren't built for this world. They just don't have that deep rooted internal self worth that they can lean on when it's hard. Some people are literally just born fucked. In my line of work I see so many people that are just dead beat. Some people just don't have that dawg in em to overcome pain

I was an outlier, pre transition I had all the makers to be a very successful person. I had excellent grades in school, never got into trouble, had alot of friends, loving family, excelled in sports and had no issue creating lasting and fulfilling relationships. My entire circle was full of successfully people. I was always a very hard worker. I had a college degree. On the outside I was very neurotypical.

Internally I dealt with alot of strife but deep deep down I always knew I was capable of great success. Deep down I always had self worth. It's strange because I knew that the whole time. I really never doubted myself long term.

But ya basically people need to grow up

Reddit user throwawayyyy174927 (detrans) explains finding peace after detransition, advising others to embrace their natural selves, build skills, and find value in hard work rather than obsessing over an impossible ideal.
21 pointsMar 23, 2025
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Mostly yes but the scars of transition still dwell in the back of the mind. While driving down the road I'll get a flashback of myself as trans or get a flashback of some cringe thing I did. Or I think about the loved ones and friends whom I forced into my charade and how I undoubtedly brought strife and discomfort into their lives. I did that all for myself to gain nothing of value from the experience other than knowing for sure that i could never be a woman.

I still have feelings of wanting to be a woman but I have found some peace knowing and accepting that idea is impossible. I will never be a woman, I'll never know what it's like to be a woman no matter how hard I try. No surgery or pronoun could even get me close.

I keep my peace through my core values that I remind myself

First most important thing- the way I look is the least important thing in my life.

  • Peace is achieved through hard work, determination and goal setting.

  • Create value in the world, provide value to others. I want to be kind, show love to people, receive love.

My advice detrans males is to embrace your natural self. Literally just be yourself without thinking about how othwr precieve you or how you want to be precieved and stop worrying about your sex organs or you beard or your bald head. Yes they exist. If you don't like them to bad, you have to find peace with the fact it's attached to you. It sounds harsh but this is actually the easiest path to inner peace. Trying to change what cannot be changed will likely make you more miserable in the end, i tried and found this out the hard way.

So...

Go to the gym, get strong

Build your skills, learn something useful like how to build a sauna and then build it. Or learn how to build and optimize computers. Whatever interests you.

Dive into work, become obsessed with work. I distracted myself with my career to help me when i first detransed, maybe not always the most healthy thing to do but I thinks it's better to be obsessed with gaining knowledge/respect/wealth within your field than it is to obsess over being a woman.

Doing these things will build inner confidence, it will give other people confidence in you which will increase your internal self worth. You will feel powerful when you know you are dedicated to building yourself to be strong and healthy and you are working towards a future, building wealth and stability for yourself and your future family.

This advice not be for everyone but I feel like if someone sternly said this to me before I started poisoning my body with estrogen maybe I could have snapped out of my trance.

*This is not professional advice

Reddit user throwawayyyy174927 (detrans) explains why life is easier as a man who wishes he were a woman than as a man attempting to pass as one, stating 99% of trans women won't experience being a cis woman.
20 pointsMar 13, 2023
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Life is just so much easier as a man that sometimes wished they were a woman, than it is as a man who is attempting to pass as a woman. 99% of trans women won't ever truly experience what it's actually like to be a cis woman. Unfortunately it just doesn't work out

Reddit user throwawayyyy174927 (detrans) explains that HRT is not a guaranteed cure for gender dysphoria and warns that it can instead add more mental stress.
19 pointsApr 6, 2025
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Even if you truly had gender dysphoria that does not mean the transitioning will "cure" dysphoria. It's important to understand that. The only thing transition will do is add more mental stress ontop of any "dysphoria" you have had or will have.

If you are early onto transition and already lost the will to even try to dress look or act feminine then you should stop transition immediately. Thisnis clearly a sign that you are not, how do the say it... a woman trapped in a man's body.

Reddit user throwawayyyy174927 (detrans male) explains how building muscle, losing weight, and growing chest hair can minimize breast development from 3 years of HRT.
8 pointsApr 7, 2025
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How big are your breasts? I took hrt for 3 years, had A cup boobs. I Put on some muscle, got lean and the boobs pretty much go away or pass some mild gynoclamastia. If I wear semi loose clothes you can't tell at all. I avoid clothing that is skin tight, that's the only time my chest looks off. I have no concern being shirtless at a public pool. My chest is hairy and that pretty hides it very well.

So, chest hair, Build muscle, loose weight and boobs will shrink by as much as half their size

Reddit user throwawayyyy174927 (detrans) explains their view that "transphobia" is used to gaslight objective critics, arguing personal feelings don't trump physical reality and that doctors must uphold medical ethics with intense screening for irreversible surgeries.
5 pointsMar 23, 2025
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I believe the word transphobia is basically a term to gaslight people who are thinking objectively on the current climate around transgenderism. There is absolutely nothing hateful about being skeptical of the current trans climate. Doctors are not acting morally, many people are not in sound place of mind to consent to surgery. Removing body parts simply does not make everyone feel better about themselves. That is a fact, it often leads to life long pain/suffering/regret. I can't speak for everyone but my main issue with the trans community is 2 things

Your feelings and what makes you feel safe and comfortable don't trump everyones physical reality.

If you say your a woman but your very clearly a man trying to be a woman then don't be shocked when your not always treated as a woman. Because it's clear to everyone you are not a woman. You can't expect everyone to play along. Not saying people should disrespect trans people but your feelings don't trump the general publics reality. You have no right to force your belives onto others.

Doctors need to stand on morals and medical ethics. Many people are way to young/ mentally ill or way to mentally distressed to be making life altering decision on surgery that can't be undone. There should at minimum be an intense screening process and waiting period for anyone wanting trans related surgery. Especially surgery were body parts are removed like the breast's or penis.

Many trans cultists would say I'm transphobic for these opinions but that's not true. I genuinely believe that this will help trans people in the long run.

Reddit user throwawayyyy174927 (detrans) explains their breaking point: realizing they would never pass as a woman after getting a cis girlfriend, leading them to detransition, embrace masculinity, and critique trans ideology and community dynamics.
3 pointsMar 23, 2025
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I transitioned/ was on HRT for 3 years. My breaking point was getting a cis girlfriend and realizing i would never ever ever even come close to passing as a woman.

So when I started to transition I was 26 and basically an alcoholic/drug abuser that just drank everyday and constantly obsessed over being a woman. I had obsessed over being a woman since I was like 8. My obsession would go in and out of intensity my whole life. Now bare in mind while dealing with all this I was quite a "normal" successful young man, had alot of friends, college degree, good job, loving family with no abuse. I was very active in sports and hobbies, had no issue finding romance with women.

After 3 years on HRT I was no were close to passing. I was 6foot 1 inch tall, narrow waist broad shoulders. Hrt gave me small but clearly still breast's, probably an A cup. During my time as trans I very very very rarely even attempted to dress as a cis woman would. I'd dress kinda like a gay non binary person would, I'd wear some earrings and maybe a little eyeliner. Kinda looking like a they/them type style I guess because I was more comfortable that way. If I were to dress like a woman would I'd feel like a total freak and people would be visible weird around me. I started my transition during final year of college, after college I worked at a bar as a bartender so for the first 2.5 years of transitioning was kinda a drunken deadbeat bartender who way a gay trans identifying person just fucking around having gay sex and dating other trans people.

When I really started to change my view was when a got a new, much better and high paying job and I got it stealth. I showed up to the interview in a suit, no earnings, or makup, hair in a tidy man bun and I had grown some facial hair out. I very easily passed as a vis man 3 years hrt. I did that because I knew that if I showed up looking like a trans I probly would not get the job. This was the start

So I get this new job it's a cut throat/ competitive atmosphere and I immediately excel and am promoted to a sr manager within 9 months. During this time I just poured myself into work. It's all I thought about or cared about and It made me start to feel like my old self that I was in highschool and early college, where my confidence was high and I was just feeling my best (and During those times being a women was not so much at the forefront of my mind) After a year at that job I met a girl at the company and we immediately hit it off. We started dating and she only knew me as a man. I felt close enough to her to tell her about my past. I told her that I was trans and that I had been on hormones for over 3 years. But that I presented as male at work got professional reasons.

She was surprised but she didn't care at all and she actually liked it. She would encourage me to be more feminine and dress like a woman and it really turned her on. by that point I was like just so over trans. Being with her made me feel more comfortable being a man. I saw a future with her. I saw us starting a family, having children and just living a normal life. It was such a clear and logical path. I realized i was absolutely terrible at being a woman. I felt like such a freak when I tried to be one, I felt like I was disturbing to other people. I felt like I didn't get as much respect, as a trans I couldn't walk into a bar and just kinda chop it up with a bunch of guys, and I felt like an invader of female spaces around women.

My time Dating other trans people and being around the trans community also turned me off. I tried to fit in their but as time went on I could see every trans person I met was like very fucked up. Like very mentally ill, have nothing good going for the career wise or financially, having severe family issues or very autistic and anti social. Never had hobbies that aligned with mine. Not to say all trans people are like this, and not to imply that im above people with these issues but I just don't relate to that sort of thing much. I'd always been very successful, easy going with alot of friends who are also successful and have loving families.

I was also very bothered with trans ideology even as a trans person. I always thought it was totally absurd that it was even a debate if transwomen can compete against bio women in sports. I was a very good athlete my whole life. I remember 2 years into my transition I played in a coed volleyball adult league with some friends for fun. I'm playing against women who were D1 college volleyball players and I'm dominating them with ease. Like they cant block me, I block them easily. I'm faster, longer, stronger, more explosive cause I'm literally a MAN. For a woman to be 6 foot 1 and have elite athleticism is like 1% of women. A man to be 6 foot 1 and athletic is slightly above average...

my sisters girlfriend played D1 college basketball. I easily beat her 1 on 1 and I quit ball in 10th grade because I couldn't make the varsity team... I beat her while on hormones...

I just felt disturbed by the loudest voices in the trans community. I did not feel like people should bow to me and call me by my gender of choice. I always felt that if I didn't look like a woman, then how can I be upset when you call me a man or say he/him. Like I know I look like a man, it's not your fault for preceiving reality. So I never cared if I was "misgendered" I never corrected anyone.

You can't give people a voice just because they are marginalized. You need to give people voices when they are working within the framework of truth and purpose and are of sane mind. Many 9f these trans activists truly have a personal and world view shrouded in narcicsm and ignorance.

So I stopped taking HRT around the 1 year mark of dating my girl. I still actually struggle alot with my past still. Almost like PTSD I still think about friends I lost when I first came out as trans. I still think about how uncomfortable I must have made friends and family. Forcing them into my charade. I still think about all the fucking cringe I did. The snap chat memories that pop up and remind me of the mistakes I made. I still look at my small breast's and feel shame sometimes. Although I will say I have found some peace in the way I look despite the small breasts. I do realize that the way I look is the least important thing in the world. That's one of my core values. Things that are important are being kind, giving love, receiving love, enjoying nature and hobbies. Build physical strength and skill, Build wealth, work towards goals. That is what's important.

It's kinda crazy cause after it all I still feel like I want to be a woman. The difference now is that I fully accept that is not possible. So I focus on things I can do and versions of my life that can exist. Sucks I can't be a woman but can love my girlfriend and my family. I can have kids and love and raise them to enjoy life and succeed and that alone is enough reason to live. I just need to be myself. I'm not a woman. I may want to be one but that's doesn't mean it's natural for me to be one. Or that should be one.

My advice to any detrans mtfftm is to go to the gym, workout, get strong, work hard, get a job, never callout cause you feel too tired or down. Show up everyday and grind. Provide value to those around you, don't be a burden, create things. If you do this you will attract love and you will feel fullfilled.

Reddit user throwawayyyy174927 (detrans male) comments that swimming shirtless with small remaining breasts is less stressful than wearing a woman's bikini as a "clockable" trans person.
3 pointsApr 7, 2025
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For me dealing with the small remaining breasts, or swimming shirtless is way less stressful than say wereing a womans bikini as an obvious clock able trans person.

If your already lean then your boobs won't get much smaller, building muscle will definitely