User:Mooeena/Detransition

Article needs proportional mention of tans advocates on the other side, not just strawman villains.

Detransition is the cessation and reversal of a gender transition, whether by social, legal, and/or medical means.

Direct, formal research of detransition is lacking. Professional interest in the phenomenon has been met with contention. Detransitioners (persons who detransition) have similarly experienced controversy and struggle.

Background and terminology
'''Gender transition is the process of changing one's gender presentation and/or sex characteristics to accord with one's internal sense of gender identity, namely, whether one is a man or a woman. Transition commonly involves gender reassignment therapy, and may include hormone replacement therapy and sex reassignment surgery to align the body more closely to the male or female appearance, according to the person's gender identity.'''

Detransition is the process of halting and reversing a gender transition. Like transition, detransition is not a single event, it can vary greatly among individuals, and it can involve changes to one's gender expression, social identity, legal identity documents, and physically sexual characteristics. Those who undertake detransition are known as detransitioners. Detransition is commonly associated with transition regret, but regret and detransition do not always coincide. Detransition is closely related to desistance, another term commonly used for cessation (but not always reversal) of transition.

Occurrence
Formal studies of detransition have been few in number,  of disputed quality,   and politically controversial. Frequency estimates vary greatly from 0 to 95%, with notable differences in terminology and methodology. The number of detransitioners is unknown but growing.

A 2008 study of gender dysphoric adolescents found 61% to desist from their transgender identity before reaching adulthood, and a 2013 study found 63% to desist. A 2018 survey of WPATH (World Professional Association for Transgender Health) surgeons found that approximately 0.3% of patients who underwent transition-related surgery later requested detransition-related surgical care. Surgeon Miroslav Djordjevic and psychotherapist James Caspian have reported that demand for surgical reversal of the physical effects of medical transition has been on the rise.

Detransition is more common in the earlier stages of transition, particularly before surgeries. Among eventual detransitioners, the progression of transition has been found to magnify, rather than remedy, gender dysphoria. Sufferers may fixate on passing (being perceived as their preferred gender), leading them to pursue ever further steps in medical transition.

Motivation to transition among detransitioners has included trauma, isolation, dissociation, inadequate mental healthcare, and social presure to pursue transition. Motivation to detranstion has included financial barriers to transition, social rejection in transition, depression or suicidality due to transition, discomfort with sexual characteristics developed during transition, concern for lack of data on long-term effects of hormone replacement therapy, concern for loss of fertility, complications from surgery, and changes in gender identity.

Informed consent and affirmation of self-diagnosis (both newer but increasingly employed models for transgender healthcare) have been criticized for failing to meet the needs of those who eventually detransition.

Individual accounts
Since 2011, Walt Heyer has written several books on his experience of regret and detransition.

In June 2015, US-based Vocativ (then an online newspaper) profiled Joel Nowak. Nowak identified as a woman for ten years, including a legal change of name, hormone therapy, and surgery, before re-identifying as a man. Nowak described long feeling "closeted" and in denial about his doubts of transition. He described detransition as feeling "liberating", and he expressed hope for topics of gender to move beyond dogmatism.

In September 2017, the Australian 60 Minutes television program featured a 12-year-old boy who had undergone hormone replacement therapy for two years before deciding to stop. Both he and his mother stated they did not regret transition, nor have they regretted detransition.

Also in September 2017, British daily paper The Guardian published an interview with Elan Anthony of Ohio. Anthony lived as a transgender woman for two decades, including undertaking hormones and surgery, before detransitioning. He described a well-intentioned but misguided rush to transition from doctors and allies. In detransition, he lost friends, and he developed a renewed sense of shame. He has since pursued advocacy work for detransitioners, and he has begun work toward a doctorate in psychology.

In June 2018, American magazine The Atlantic released a short film entitled "Reversing a Gender Transition", documenting Ohio-resident Carey Callahan's experiences in transition, regret, and detransition. Callahan identified as trans for four years, including a period of nine months on hormones, before detransitioning. She has since become an advocate for detransitioners: writing, vlogging, and presenting public talks. She has expressed concern that WPATH's Standards of Care (SOC) are too loose, while also supporting individuals' pursuit of informed transition.

Cultural and political impact
Individuals who have detransitioned, and some researchers and medical providers, have voiced concern for a lack of legal, medical, and psychological assistance for those seeking detransition. Healthcare professionals add that they perceive an atmosphere of censorship around discussing and researching the phenomenon, while detransitioners express experiences of harassment from activists who view detransition as a political threat.

In August 2017, the Mazzoni Center's Philadelphia Trans Health Conference, which is an annual meeting of transgender people, advocates, and healthcare providers, canceled a panel discussion on detransition. The conference organizers said, "When a topic becomes controversial, such as this one has turned on social media, there is a duty to make sure that the debate does not get out of control at the conference itself. After several days of considerations and reviewing feedback, the planning committee voted that the workshops, while valid, cannot be presented at the conference as planned".

In September 2017, Bath Spa University declined permission for James Caspian, a counselor who specializes in transgender therapy, to research regret of gender-reassignment procedures and pursuit of detransition. Caspian alleged the reason for the university's refusal was that it was "a potentially politically incorrect piece of research, [which] carries a risk to the university".

WPATH's Standards of Care have offered no mention of detransition, though a majority of WPATH surgeons have expressed desire for detransition guidelines to be included, and former WPATH president and longtime chair of WPATH's SOC revision team, Eli Coleman, has listed detransition among the topics he's working to include in the eighth edition.

The rise of detransition has attracted interest from both social conservatives on the political right and radical feminists on the political left. This attention has elicited in detransitioners feelings of both exploitation and support.