Hundreds of transgender youths who had gender reassignment surgery wish they hadn’t and want to transition back, says trans rights champion
- Charlie Evans, 28, from Newcastle, is helping transgender people with doubts
- Says many people find transitioning genders does not help gender dysphoria
- ‘Hundreds’ have contacted her after she stopped taking testosterone this year
‘Hundreds’ of transgender people who have transitioned want to un-do their surgery, a campaigner who decided to stop identifying as male has revealed.
Charlie Evans, 28, from Newcastle, was born female but identified as male for almost ten years before deciding to stop taking testosterone and become a woman again.
‘Hundreds’ of people have contacted her, including 30 in Newcastle alone, asking for guidance around detransitioning – the process of becoming the gender they were born – after she went public with her decision last year, she told Sky News.
Charlie Evans, 28, from Newcastle, was born female but identified as male for almost ten years before deciding to stop taking testosterone and become a woman again
‘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,’ Ms Evans said.
The people who get in contact with her are usually in their 20s, ‘mostly same-sex attracted’ and often autistic, she added.
One 21-year-old woman, who identified as male from the age of 13, reached out to Ms Evans because transitioning did not help her gender dysphoria.
‘Hundreds’ of people have contacted her, including 30 in Newcastle alone, asking for guidance around detransitioning – the process of becoming the gender they were born – after she went public with her decision last year, she told Sky News
The woman, who did not want to be identified, said: ‘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’.
Ms Evans is now setting up The Detransition Advocacy Network to help people who feel the same way she did.
One 21-year-old woman (pictured), who identified as male from the age of 13, reached out to Ms Evans because transitioning did not help her gender dysphoria
She was due to have her breast removal surgery this summer but started having doubts in May before deciding to stop taking hormones and cancel the procedure.
The science journalist has previously tweeted: ‘We know that there is no such thing as a boy brain or a girl brain or that you can be born with the wrong one.
‘We know hormone blockers are unsafe because we need testosterone and oestrogen for development.
‘We need to #BeBrave, and stand together.’
Data is not currently collected showing how many transgender people come to regret their decision but the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust – which offers gender identity services for children as young as three – says it is ‘rarely seen’.
In a statement, a trust spokesperson said: ‘Decisions about physical interventions made in our care are arrived at after a thorough exploration process.
‘While some of our patients may decide not to pursue physical treatment or drop out of treatment, the experience of regret described here is rarely seen.’
The science journalist tweeted ‘we all know there is no such thing as a boy brain or a girl brain’
Ms Evans (pictured) is now setting up The Detransition Advocacy Network to help people who feel the same way she did