Mick Hartley

This really spells it out. A man tells his therapist he "did not want to be a gay man". The therapist tells him he's trans. Off he goes for the surgery, despite his repeatedly expressed doubts. The operation – vaginoplasty – is horrendous. He loses three pints of blood, and knows straight away that he's made the worst mistake of his life.

From the Telegraph:

Ritchie Herron has been experiencing a living nightmare for six years.

The 37-year-old civil servant, who in 2018 underwent radical gender surgery to complete his physical transformation to live as a woman, is one of a growing number of patients who have come to deeply regret undergoing medical interventions to change gender.

Herron’s distress has been compounded by the NHS response to his desire to “detransition”, which has appeared clumsy and ill-suited to the situation in which he found himself. He claims that the inadequacy of the health service’s approach was highlighted by the fact that the main clinician assigned to oversee his care was a gynaecologist – a specialism which would clearly “not [offer] the right expertise” for someone seeking to overturn their transition to the female gender.

In recent days, however, Herron has been feeling some hope. Last week the NHS announced that it was planning to launch a new service for transgender patients wanting to return to the gender of their birth.

The development has given Herron optimism that “detransitioners” like him may finally now get the “right care” for the physical and mental pain with which many have been suffering for years.

Previously unseen data obtained under freedom of information laws gives the clearest indication yet of the number of “regretful” transitioners who changed their gender at the Tavistock child gender identity service, which was recently closed by the NHS for being “inadequate”. According to that data, at least 64 Tavistock patients detransitioned between 2010 and 2020 alone….

In the years that followed, his regret at the extreme changes made to his body only grew, as he grappled with the dire physical and psychological consequences. His health difficulties were myriad, ranging from bone density problems and incontinence to skin conditions and numbness affecting his entire crotch area. He was near suicidal as he struggled to come to terms with the horrifying predicament he was in – for which he initially blamed himself.

Finally, in 2022 he decided that his only hope for survival was to stop living as “Abby” and return to being “Ritchie”….

So when the NHS revealed that it planned to establish a service specifically for “individuals who choose to detransition”, Herron says he could not have been happier. “We definitely need this,” he says. “I cannot wait for the clinic to open. I would use the service straight away once it’s up and running."

The problem, as the article makes clear, is that there's a lack of expertise among doctors about detransitioning. There are plenty of clinicians, it seems, happy to dish out the hormones and encourage patients to embrace their exciting new gender identities, but not so many willing to face the consequences of these grotesquely irresponsible interventions.

On Herron’s part, he certainly has “no plans to undergo any more experimental surgery”. He is also conscious that some of the changes that detransitioners like him have undergone are irreversible. But he is optimistic the service will still be able to help him.

“I might be lucky to slow things down, but I do worry that things may be a bit too late for me because it’s been over a decade with no testosterone,” he says. “But maybe they can help me with my urology problems, the pain and the lack of sensation I have. And maybe they can advise me on the hormone side of things and curb the onset of osteoporosis and the emerging autoimmunity issues that I have.”

Jesus, what a mess.