Summary

Researchers interviewed six UK women who medically transitioned and later detransitioned, looking for shared themes. All had taken testosterone for 1 to 5 years, and four had had both breasts removed. Four themes emerged. First, hormones and surgery did not resolve their distress or change their sex. Second, they worried about the long-term health effects of testosterone. Third, their sense of belonging changed, and some felt more at home among women and lesbian communities. Fourth, detransition was an ongoing process, and their needs were mostly not met by health services. The authors call for careful whole-person assessment before transition, research on testosterone's long-term effects in women, and better support for people detransitioning. It gives a detailed picture of a few lives, but six similar, self-selected people cannot show how common this is.

Key findings

• 六名出生时为女性的英国成年人，年龄21至32岁，接受了访谈。所有人都使用过睾酮1至5年，开始年龄为17至24岁，四人切除了双侧乳房，她们在2个月至5年前去过渡。
• 医学过渡有局限：激素和手术没有完全解决她们的性别痛苦或潜在的心理健康困扰，有些人在身体发生变化后感到更加痛苦，或对变化后的身体感到痛苦。
• 长期健康担忧推动了决定：担心睾酮对女性身体的未知影响，如心脏风险、子宫萎缩和不孕，促成了去过渡，她们觉得自己事先没有得到充分的告知。
• 归属感随时间而变化：许多人发现，与女性和女同性恋群体相处比作为男性生活更让她们感到做回自己，有些人意识到，对女性是什么样的狭隘观念影响了她们最初决定过渡。
• 去过渡是复杂而持续的：它带来悲伤、内疚和实际问题，比如要面对更男性化的外貌，大多数人找到了医学治疗之外的方式来应对痛苦。
• 支持大多缺乏：她们描述了医生和治疗师未能满足的需求，并经常转向网上的去过渡社群，寻求信息、实际建议和情感支持。
• 六人中有四人被诊断为自闭症（在论文的某一部分中为自闭症或ADHD）。

Abstract

The visibility and presence of people who have detransitioned following a gender transition is growing, with an increase in research on the needs and experiences of this group. This study presents a thematic narrative analysis of interviews from six females (M = 25.5 yrs; range = 21–32 yrs). All detransitioned after having at least one gender-affirming medical or surgical treatment as part of a gender transition in the UK. Four narrative themes were developed to capture how they made sense of their detransition: (1) the limits of medical transition, (2) the longer-term health implications, (3) the social limits of transition, and (4) detransition as an ongoing process. Participants discussed a range of emotional, practical, and other support needs, largely unmet by healthcare or other services. These findings highlight the importance of ensuring that people have realistic expectations of transition as part of a holistic assessment process. Long-term health outcome research is also needed, addressing the impact of testosterone on female anatomy and health specifically. Further clinical implications with those considering transition or detransition are discussed.

Conclusion

This research adds an in-depth analysis to the previous literature on detransition. Participants detransitioned because they found medical transition had limits to resolve distress, or to change their sex. The ongoing health implications and associated risks were also a factor for most. Participant perception of social group belonging often shifted after transition, sometimes linked to feminist values, or perhaps reflecting the normal developmental experiences and trajectory of adolescence and early adulthood as young people explore their identities in different social contexts. It is also possible that the experience of the physical limits of transition to transform them, left the social aspects feeling hollow, increasing social dysphoria related to the new gender. Detransition was a complex and individual, ongoing process, with a range of needs expressed. Implications for clinical practice with people considering transition and detransition were discussed.