Detrans Woman Finds Self Love and Acceptance thru Faith: Victoria's Story | The Bridge S2 Ep4
Every single droplet of me was created without a single mistake. There is zero need for us to make permanent decisions about our bodies before learning just how unique those features could make us.
Overview
Victoria Santiago transitioned at 19, taking testosterone and undergoing a double mastectomy at 21 after therapists mistook her trauma-driven bodily hatred for gender dysphoria. She spent years in depression and addiction before breaking up with her boyfriend and detransitioning at 26. Finding Northridge Church and being baptized there last November brought her sobriety and self-acceptance through faith. Now a powerlifter embracing her body as a woman, she hopes to help others heal while urging young women to see their natural bodies as beautiful and intentionally created.
Full Video Summary
Victoria Santiago is a 31-year-old detransitioned woman who began identifying as a trans man at age 19 and started testosterone shortly after. By 21, she had undergone a double mastectomy. She says she never experienced what people call gender dysphoria; rather, she hated the parts of her body that made her a target, having developed a large chest at 13 and standing 5'11" since age 12. When she voiced this discomfort, therapists equated it to gender dysphoria. She grew up in New Jersey, where LGBT topics were becoming mainstream during her high school years, and she found support groups and online communities like Tumblr that influenced her path. She identified as a lesbian from age 14 but says she only ever sought relationships with men, and now believes that label was adopted largely to fit in with a queer social circle that shamed heterosexuality. Within six months of her mastectomy, Victoria began thinking about detransitioning, but her boyfriend and friends reacted negatively, so she delayed the process. She continued living as a trans man until age 26, when she broke up with her long-term boyfriend and stopped testosterone cold turkey. The years in between were marked by chronic depression, substance abuse, and suicidal ideation; she says she was constantly high or drunk to numb her feelings. Even after stopping hormones, she used sexual relationships and substances to cope and affirm her womanhood. About a year before the interview, Victoria began attending Northridge Church. She was raised evangelical—her father is a pastor—but had drifted from faith after coming out as LGBT at 16. She had tried affirming churches but felt they valued identity politics over identity in Christ. At Northridge, after a bathroom incident where she was mistaken for a man, she disclosed her detransition story to her pastor. The church welcomed her, and she was baptized that November. She describes the baptism as spiritually transformative, saying her fears and bodily hatred washed away. She has been sober since that day. Victoria now trains for powerlifting and is learning to love her body as a woman. She says she wants to eventually help other detransitioners find self-love, though she is cautious about online spaces because of negative feedback and people twisting narratives. She believes God created her without mistake and wants young women to know they do not need to make permanent changes to their bodies to find worth.