We’re at a stage in modern society now where transgenderism is taken seriously and men who want to physically transition into women and vice versa can do so freely and live their lives the way they see fit.
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However, the worry from critics has always been that impressionable young people confused about their gender and sexuality would go all-in on gender reassignment surgery without really thinking through the magnitude and consequences of their decision. There are many who argue gender reassignment should only be available to fully-formed adults.
Well there seems to be some merit to this argument, as explained to Sky News by 28-year-old Charlie Evans.
Charlie was born female but identified as male for nearly 10 years before detransitioning.
She says the number of young people seeking gender transition is at an all-time high but we hear very little, if anything, about those who have come to regret their decision.
Charlie detransitioned last year and says she was stunned by the number of people she discovered in a similar position:
I’m in communication with 19 and 20-year-olds who have had full gender reassignment surgery who wish they hadn’t, and their dysphoria hasn’t been relieved, they don’t feel better for it.
They don’t know what their options are now.
Charlie says she’s been contacted by “hundreds” of people seeking help – 30 people alone in her area of Newcastle.
I think some of the common characteristics are that they tend to be around their mid-20s, they’re mostly female and mostly same-sex attracted, and often autistic as well.
She recalls being approached by a young girl with a beard who hugged her after giving a public talk and explained she was a destransitioned woman too:
She said she felt shunned by the LGBT community for being a traitor. So I felt I had to do something.
Charlie is now launching a charity called The Detransition Advocacy Network, with their first meeting set to be held in Manchester at the end of October.
Sky News met one person, ‘Ruby’, who contacted Charlie’s charity for help. Here’s her story:
Ruby is now 21 but first began identifying as male at 13.
After taking testosterone her voice got a lot deeper, she grew facial hair and her body changed.
She had been planning to have surgery to remove her breasts this summer.
However, in May, Ruby voiced the growing doubts she had been harbouring and made the decision to come off testosterone and detransition to identify as female.
“I didn’t think any change was going to be enough in the end and I thought it was better to work on changing how I felt about myself, than changing my body,” says Ruby.
“I’ve seen similarities in the way I experience gender dysphoria, in the way I experience other body image issues.”
Ruby explains she has also had an eating disorder but she does not feel that issue was explored in the therapy sessions she had when she went to gender identity services.
“When I was at my gender clinic to get referred for hormones, we had a session where I went over my mental health issues and I told them about my eating disorder and they didn’t suggest that that could maybe connected with my gender dysphoria,” says Ruby.
“For everyone who has gender dysphoria, whether they are trans or not, I want there to be more options for us because I think there is a system of saying, ‘okay here’s your hormones, here’s your surgery, off you go’. I don’t think that’s helpful for anyone.”
I think much of the problem surrounding the trans debate is that if you are at all critical about any of it – even if the critiques are reasonable and warrant consideration – it’s easy to be accused of being a bigot or transphobic and so people are scared to speak out, even those within the LGBT community like Ruby. How are you supposed to have any meaningful discussion about the topic when that’s the situation?
The NHS offers gender identity services for children under 18, with some patients as young as three or four. They now have a record number of referrals and see 3,200% more patients than they did 10 years ago – with the increase for girls up by 5,337%.
With referrals at a record high, it’s only natural that cases of detransition will rise too.
There are of course many gender transition stories that are total successes and the individuals are happier and all the better for it. At the same time maybe more research and discussion is needed in treating people with gender dysphoria, as well as more options for them than gender transition.
For the mother raising her child as gender-neutral in order to ‘protect them’, click HERE.
