70% realiseerde zich dat dysforie niet gendergerelateerd was: grootste enquête onder detransitioners toont wijdverbreide onvervulde behoeften

Behoeften en ondersteuning met betrekking tot detransitie: een cross-sectionele online enquête

Enquêtes Detransitie & spijt Zorg & ondersteuning voor detransitioners

Authors: Elie Vandenbussche
Journal: Journal of Homosexuality
Year: 2022
Source: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00918369.2021.1919479

Summary

Elie Vandenbussche surveyed 237 people from online detransition communities about why they stopped transitioning and what help they needed. Most were young women, many with depression, anxiety or other diagnoses, and about a third had transitioned only socially. 70% came to see their gender distress as linked to other issues, and half said transition had not helped. People needed help with other mental health problems, regret and inner shame about being gay, medical help to stop hormones, and contact with other detransitioners. Only 18% felt properly supported, and many described dismissive clinicians and rejection by LGBT+ communities. It is useful evidence about online detransition spaces, but the volunteers were mostly female and their answers couldn't be checked, so they don't represent all detransitioners. A 2026 correction clarified who was included and dropped one comparison.

Key findings

237 detransitioners deden mee: 92% vrouw, gemiddelde leeftijd 25, en 51% uit de VS. 65% had sociaal en medisch getransitioneerd en 31% alleen sociaal.
De meest voorkomende redenen om te stoppen waren inzien dat hun genderklachten met andere problemen samenhingen (70%), zorgen over gezondheid (62%), transitie die hun nood niet hielp (50%) en andere manieren vinden om ermee om te gaan (45%). 43% noemde een verandering in politieke opvattingen.
Andere gezondheidsproblemen kwamen veel voor: 54% meldde minstens drie gediagnosticeerde aandoeningen, meestal depressie (70%), angst (63%) en PTSS (posttraumatische stressstoornis, 33%).
45% vond dat ze vooraf niet goed waren geïnformeerd over de gezondheidseffecten van hun behandelingen. Slechts 18% voelde zich goed geïnformeerd.
De meest voorkomende behoeften waren hulp bij psychische problemen die met hun genderklachten samenhingen en opties naast medische transitie (65% elk), en omgaan met spijt (60%). 87% wilde de verhalen van andere detransitioners horen.
Slechts 18% vond dat ze genoeg steun kregen tijdens het detransitioneren (51% niet, 31% wist het niet zeker). Online groepen, vrienden en familie waren de belangrijkste bronnen van hulp, en slechts 13% kreeg hulp van een lhbt+- of transorganisatie.

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze the specific needs of detransitioners from online detrans communities and discover to what extent they are being met. For this purpose, a cross-sectional online survey was conducted and gathered a sample of 237 male and female detransitioners. The results showed important psychological needs in relation to gender dysphoria, comorbid conditions, feelings of regret and internalized homophobic and sexist prejudices. It was also found that many detransitioners need medical support notably in relation to stopping/changing hormone therapy, surgery/treatment complications and reversal interventions. Additionally, the results indicated the need for hearing about other detransitioners' experiences and meeting each other. A major lack of support was reported by the respondents overall, with a lot of negative experiences coming from medical and mental health systems and from the LGBT+ community. The study highlights the importance of increasing awareness and support given to detransitioners.

Conclusion

The aim of the present research was to examine detransitioners' needs and support. The four categories of needs (psychological, medical, legal and social) that were created for sake of clarity in the survey were a simplification of the real complexity of the experiences made by detransitioners and they have their limitations. Nonetheless, these categories enabled the current study to uncover the fact that most detransitioners could benefit from some form of counseling and in particular when it comes to psychological support on matters such as gender dysphoria, comorbid conditions, feelings of regret, social/physical changes and internalized homophobic or sexist prejudices. Medical support was also found to be needed by many, in order to address concerns related to stopping/changing hormone therapy, surgery/treatment complications and access to reversal interventions. Furthermore, the current study has shown that detransitioners need spaces to hear about other detransition stories and to exchange with each other. Unfortunately, the support that detransitioners are receiving in order to fulfill these needs appears to be very poor at the moment. Participants described strong difficulties with medical and mental health systems, as well as experiences of outright rejection from the LGBT+ community. Many respondents have expressed the wish to find alternative treatments to deal with their gender dysphoria but reported that it was impossible to talk about it within LGBT+ spaces and in the medical sphere. These accounts are concerning and they show the urgency to increase awareness and reduce hostility around the topic of detransition among healthcare providers and members of the LGBT+ community in order to address the specific needs of detransitioners.

Methodological limitations

Volunteers from online groups: People were found through Post Trans (a site for female detransitioners), private Facebook groups (some for female detransitioners only), Instagram, Twitter and r/detrans, and by sharing. It captures people active in detransition communities, likely those with worse experiences, not everyone who stops transitioning.
Almost all female: 217 of 237 (92%) were female and only 20 male, too few to study males separately. Males were also older when they started medical transition (26 vs 20 on average).
Loose rules for who was included: Anyone who answered yes to 'Did you transition medically and/or socially and then stopped?' was included, plus 8 of 9 who answered no but whose other answers suggested they saw themselves as detransitioners. 31% had transitioned only socially, so not everyone had medical treatment.
Answers couldn't be checked: Diagnoses (both 'diagnosed' and 'suspected'), treatments and reasons were reported anonymously and couldn't be checked against records.
One-time snapshot, looking back: Reasons and needs were recalled afterwards, so the study can't show whether other health problems came before, during or after transition, or what caused what.
Home-made questionnaire: The answer options were based on what the author saw in detransition websites and forums, and no tested questionnaires were used. People pointed out that 'medical transition only' was missing as an option.
Written answers loosely analysed: The original paper said only that open answers were analysed by finding repeated themes, with no clear method or second person checking. The 2026 correction added a named method, but still reports no checks.
Corrected in 2026: The journal published a correction (Journal of Homosexuality, 16 June 2026). It clarifies that people were included only on the 'transitioned then stopped' question, changes 'detransitioning' to 'stopping transition/detransitioning' throughout, and removes direct comparisons of support during transition versus detransition (such as 13% vs 51% from LGBT+ or trans organisations), because the questions were worded differently. Older summaries quoting that comparison are out of date.
No comparison group: Without trans people who did not detransition, it's unclear which needs and bad healthcare experiences are special to detransitioners.
Young, Western group: The average age was 25, with 51% from the US and 32% from Europe, so the results may not apply to older detransitioners or other health systems.
One early-career author, no funding: The study was done by one author (listed with a bachelor's degree, Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences), with no reported funding, trial run of the survey or co-researchers. No conflicts of interest were declared.

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Summary

Key findings

Abstract

Conclusion