Detransitioned teen explains the harms of "gender affirming care" to CA legislators
At 13 I was put on puberty blockers, testosterone, and had my breasts removed by 15. Today I can’t breastfeed, pee blood, and may never carry a child. Kids can’t consent to this—stop SB 107.
Overview
Seventeen-year-old Chloe Cole told California lawmakers she was fast-tracked through puberty blockers, testosterone and a double-mastectomy after a single therapist visit at 13. Now living with infertility risk, bladder damage and the inability to breastfeed, she urged them to reject SB 107, saying “children cannot consent.”
Full Video Summary
Chloe Cole, a 17-year-old detransitioner from California’s Central Valley, told legislators that she was placed on a medical transition pathway from age 13 to 16. After telling a therapist that she identified as male, she says the therapist immediately affirmed that identity, dismissed her parents’ questions about hormones, puberty blockers, and surgeries, and warned them that failing to support her transition would increase her suicide risk. Within two free visits, an endocrinologist started her on puberty blockers and injectable testosterone. At 15, she requested a double-mastectomy; her therapist continued to affirm the decision, and she attended a pre-surgery class with roughly a dozen other girls—most her age or younger—who also believed they were men. Cole says none of them were truly going to become men; instead, they were “fleeing from the uncomfortable feeling of becoming women.” Cole emphasizes that neither the therapists nor the surgery class adequately explained the lifelong consequences of the procedures. She asserts she “wasn’t capable of understanding” the ramifications and that the risks were “downplayed consistently.” Meanwhile, her parents, frightened by the suicide threat, felt pressured to keep moving forward. Cole now lives with irreversible physical effects: she will never be able to breastfeed, has blood clots in her urine, cannot fully empty her bladder, and does not know whether she can carry a pregnancy to term. She notes that even the doctors who prescribed puberty blockers and testosterone cannot tell her. Addressing the lawmakers directly, Cole says SB 107 would “circumvent state’s laws” and remove the safeguards that might have prevented her story. She closes with a simple plea: “Children cannot consent. Vote no on SB 107.”