I started transitioning to male at 25 to escape feeling like a failed woman and the pain from my past. I was on testosterone for over seven years, but I eventually realized I was using it as a coping mechanism, not because I was truly a man. Moving away from my affirming social circle gave me the perspective to see I was living a lie and dissociating from myself. I've been detransitioning for a year now, working to reverse the physical changes, which is difficult and scary. I now accept that I am female and am trying to build an identity for myself outside of gender entirely.

I was a girl who felt uncomfortable with my body and thought I was supposed to be a boy, influenced by online communities and a past relationship. My transition, including testosterone and surgery, was traumatic and triggered severe health issues, leaving me with permanent changes. I realized my feelings were rooted in trauma, autism, and OCD, not in being male. I am now focused on accepting my female body and healing from my past. I deeply regret my choices and am undergoing expensive procedures to try and feel like myself again.

I started identifying as non-binary at 25, thinking it was the answer to my deep discomfort and depression. I was convinced to try hormones, but just one month of estrogen caused permanent, painful breast growth and other changes. I realized I had made a terrible mistake based on internal issues, not because I was born the wrong sex. Now, I’m focused on healing and have learned my problems were from trauma and other conditions, not my body. I’m waiting for surgery to fix the damage and am finally learning to just be myself.

I watched my happy, athletic daughter suddenly declare she was a boy after being immersed in trans content online, which felt like a social trend, not something coming from within her. I believe she was struggling with the normal awkwardness of puberty and social rejection, and she latched onto this as a solution. I refused medical interventions and instead found a therapist who focused on her underlying mental health without pushing any labels. We focused on family time and real self-acceptance, and it was a slow, difficult journey with many ups and downs. Now, I believe my role was to love her through her pain and protect her from making irreversible decisions based on a temporary feeling.

I was a tomboy from a young age and started wishing I was a boy in fifth grade so I could dress how I wanted. In high school, online communities convinced me my discomfort with being female meant I was a man, so I socially and then medically transitioned. Living as a man was isolating because I only passed as a young boy, and I became obsessed with not being "clocked." A profound psychedelic experience made me realize I was fighting my own healthy body for no reason, so I stopped hormones. I'm now a masculine woman, and my dysphoria is gone now that I've accepted myself.

I started transitioning at 21 because I felt I didn't fit in as a straight girl and thought becoming male would fix my discomfort with my body. I lived as a man for over three years and had top surgery, which I initially loved. I eventually realized I missed womanhood and felt deep grief over losing my ability to breastfeed, which is my biggest regret. I stopped testosterone at 24 and have since embraced my femininity and my desire for a traditional life. I'm now engaged to a wonderful man and am finally at peace with myself as a woman.

I started identifying as trans as a teenager to escape the discomfort of female puberty and past trauma. I was quickly given testosterone and surgery by doctors who never questioned my underlying issues. I eventually realized I didn't hate being female, I just hated how women are treated in society. Now, I am a detransitioned woman living with permanent physical changes I deeply regret. I feel betrayed by the medical system and have found peace in accepting myself as a woman.

I was born male and felt a deep discomfort with my body and social expectations from a very young age. My dysphoria was rooted in my autism and a deep sense of not fitting in, which I later confused with a fetish I developed from online pornography. I realized in my early twenties that my desire to be a woman was a coping mechanism, not an identity. Through years of self-reflection, mindfulness, and rejecting those fantasies, I overcame the dysphoria. I am now at peace as a male and profoundly grateful I never medically transitioned.

I was a teenage tomboy who felt pressured by a therapist and online friends into believing I was a boy because I didn't fit feminine stereotypes. I took testosterone, and the physical changes like a deeper voice and facial hair immediately felt wrong and foreign to my body. I was told to push through the doubt, but I eventually stopped and had to undergo painful and expensive procedures to reverse some of the damage. I now understand my discomfort wasn't with being female, but with how society treats women, and I deeply regret ever transitioning. Today, I live as a masculine woman, managing the permanent changes with a lot of regret.

I am a mother navigating my child's social transition after he identified as transgender at age eleven. My gut tells me his distress is rooted in the intense pressures of female adolescence and a fear of not being "pretty enough," not an innate male identity. I support his social transition to keep our connection, but I absolutely refuse to consent to any medical interventions like puberty blockers due to the permanent risks. I am terrified by the social influences and the pressure to medically transition, and I worry his supportive friends don't truly see him as a boy. My hope is that with love and therapy for his anxiety, he will eventually find peace with his female body.

I'm a woman who, during the 2020 lockdown, started having intense thoughts about not being female after some online friends came out. My questioning wasn't about my body, but was really a way to escape my loneliness and fear of growing up. I decided to focus on my real problems through therapy and by leaving toxic online spaces, and the thoughts slowly went away. Now I'm comfortable being a woman and understand that my personal struggles had nothing to do with my gender. I feel like I grew up by facing my issues head-on instead of trying to become someone else.

I'm a masculine female who started feeling deep discomfort with puberty, which made me feel like I'd lost my physical freedom. I found community in a queer youth group where I adopted a trans identity and believed my feelings of alienation meant I wasn't a woman. After nearly a decade, I discovered writing by detransitioned women and realized my dysphoria was rooted in trauma and being a lesbian in a misogynistic world. I lost almost all my friends when I stopped believing in that ideology and accepted myself. I never medically transitioned, and I now live freely as a butch lesbian, having traded a confusing ideology for self-acceptance.

I was a traumatized girl who saw transition as an escape from my painful reality and started testosterone at 18 with no questions asked. The changes were rapid and physically agonizing, and even as I passed as male, my dysphoria and paranoia only got worse. I finally realized my desire wasn't to be a man, but to escape the trauma of being a woman, and I stopped testosterone after nearly three years. Detransitioning was incredibly difficult and I lost friends, but through proper therapy, I found peace and learned to accept my female body. I'm now in a much better place, free from dysphoria, and I believe I was failed by a system that offered me a medical solution for a problem that needed psychological care.

I was born female and started identifying as a trans man in my early twenties, partly because I felt I never fit in with other women. My journey was heavily influenced by my social circle and undiagnosed mental health issues like depression and OCD, which made my feelings about my body feel so urgent. I took testosterone for nine months but stopped because the reality of being trans didn't match my fantasy and the medical burden was too high. Now, I'm a married mother, and while I don't regret the path that led me here, I still struggle with the permanent changes from testosterone. Zoloft has helped quiet the obsessive thoughts, and I've learned to just focus on building a good life as a person in a female body.

I watched someone I love get swept into transition by friends at 23, and it felt like they were being led, not finding their own way. I believe their journey was a maladaptive coping mechanism for deep trauma, not their true self. I am terrified by the medical risks, having seen the devastating effects of these powerful drugs firsthand. I hope they find an exit ramp without permanent damage and receive the love and support they truly need. My heart aches for all the young people who are on this path.

I started feeling a deep discomfort with my developing female body when I was a teenager, and I thought that meant I wasn't really a girl. I identified as non-binary and socially transitioned for a few years, believing it was the answer to my anxiety and unhappiness. I eventually realized my feelings were more about internalized issues and societal pressures than an innate identity. Through therapy, I worked through my underlying struggles and learned to separate myself from harmful stereotypes. I am now comfortable and at peace with being female, and I see my journey as a difficult but important lesson in self-acceptance.

I was born female and my discomfort with puberty started around age 11, leading me to believe I was a trans man. I took testosterone and had surgery to remove my breasts, thinking it would solve my anxiety and make me feel safer. I eventually realized my underlying mental health issues were still there and that I was trying to escape being female. Now I live with permanent changes like a deep voice and facial hair that I deeply regret. I'm learning to accept myself as a masculine woman and finally focusing on my mental health.

I was a female who transitioned to male as a teenager, believing it would fix my deep unhappiness. After four years on testosterone, I felt isolated and realized the life I truly wanted was as a woman. I suddenly decided to detransition and my mental health has improved dramatically since accepting my body. I now see my dysphoria was rooted in other mental health issues, not my sex. I am at peace living as a masculine woman and believe my problems were in my mind, not my body.

I started transitioning when I was 19, believing becoming a man was the answer to my deep unhappiness. I lived as male for six years and had my breasts removed, but the testosterone ruined my health and my mental state got worse. At 25, I realized I could never actually change my female body and I was tired of living a lie. I stopped hormones and now deeply regret the permanent damage, especially the loss of my natural breasts. I’ve found peace by accepting myself as a woman, and I’m now healing, married, and expecting my first child.

I was a depressed teenager who thought becoming a guy was the answer to my self-hatred, so I started testosterone at 16. For a while it felt like a fix, but the hormones made me emotionally numb and I later panicked when my hair started to thin. I found this forum and realized my transition was driven by pain and outside influence, not my true self. I stopped testosterone at 19 and reconnected with my body as a woman. I'm now 22 and finally learning to love myself, even with the permanent changes I have to manage.