All of America Needs to Hear This Ex-Transgender’s Devastating Story
I was screaming on the bathroom floor, begging her to stop. I realized I had made a huge mistake. They told me to cut dangling skin off with scissors. Nobody prepares you for this.
Overview
Josie describes how a childhood marked by paternal absence and adult social influence led him to pursue a decade-long medical transition. After a therapist fast-tracked him to hormones and doctors repeatedly raised his doses despite declining mental health, he underwent bottom surgery that left him with severe complications and permanent damage. Following the collapse of his relationships and a return to Christianity in early 2024, he detransitioned and now warns that the medical establishment fails to prepare patients for the painful, irreversible realities of transition.
Full Video Summary
Josie, born Joseph, recounts his journey from a fatherless childhood to medical transition and eventual detransition. Growing up without a consistent male role model, he felt disconnected from other boys and admired his single mother. Around age six, he first expressed a wish to have been born a girl, though these thoughts faded until age 20, when his sister’s transgender partner suggested he might also be transgender. Influenced by online communities and friends, he told his wife in 2017 that he wanted to transition. He sought out a top gender therapist in Ohio who, within 15 minutes of their first session, pushed him toward hormone therapy without discussing side effects or long-term consequences. At Equitas, a nurse practitioner handed him an "informed consent" pamphlet and quickly approved estrogen and testosterone blockers. Over the following years, doctors repeatedly increased his dosage whenever his mental health declined, while no one explored underlying issues. He became housebound for two years, unable to hold a job, and eventually was prescribed antipsychotics and antidepressants alongside the hormones. When one doctor questioned whether the hormones were causing harm, he dismissed the suggestion under pressure from affirming friends. In 2022, a partner offered to pay for his bottom surgery with a prominent Philadelphia surgeon. Despite his history of depression, suicidal ideation, and a borderline personality disorder diagnosis, two psychologists signed off on the procedure. He went through with the operation, but woke to immediate complications and inadequate hospital care. During his first dilation session in a hotel bathroom, the pain was so excruciating that he screamed and begged his partner to stop, realizing in that moment he had made a terrible, irreversible mistake. Further complications included tissue dehiscence and sloughing skin, which clinic staff told him to treat with scissors, insisting it was "totally normal." After his relationship ended and his friend group abandoned him in late 2023, he met a Christian woman who shared her faith. By February 2024, he had committed to detransition and returning to Christ. He now lives with permanent physical consequences, including an altered voice and the need for lifelong synthetic hormones, but reports that his mental health improved almost immediately after stopping cross-sex hormones and psychiatric medications. He urges churches to love and speak honestly to those struggling, and warns parents and individuals that medical transition is an unattainable dream that no doctor adequately prepares patients for.