Detransition Facts and Statistics: Challenging the Myths Around Detransitioners

“Detransition” is a loaded term. Importantly, it doesn’t mean – as some people imply – that there was an unsatisfactory or regrettable result. Rather, it simply refers to the small group of people who transition and then go back. There are many reasons other than regret for why a person might decide to return to their gender assigned at birth. Some people may even detransition due to the negative effects of conversion therapy.

Detransition needs further understanding, not controversy

In recent years, public discourse has drawn attention to research and clinical practice regarding gender affirming care for transgender, non-binary, and gender diverse (trans) populations. In particular, the phenomenon of gender detransition—discontinuing or reversing gender affirming medical or surgical interventions—has been thrust into the spotlight...

Factors Leading to “Detransition” Among Transgender and Gender Diverse People in the United States: A Mixed-Methods Analysis

Among TGD adults with a reported history of detransition, the vast majority reported that their detransition was driven by external pressures. Clinicians should be aware of these external pressures, how they may be modified, and the possibility that patients may once again seek gender affirmation in the future.

Gender detransition: A critical review of the literature

Gender detransition is a complex, heterogeneous, under-researched, and poorly understood reality.

I Tried Detransition and Didn’t Like It

Detransitioning — undergoing a social or medical gender transition, and later choosing to reverse this — is a subject of perennial media attention and widespread public fascination. Although systematic studies have found that regret over transitioning occurs at a rate of 2% or less (Dhejne et al., 2014; Johansson et al., 2010), individual stories hold greater emotional resonance than abstract statistics, particularly at a time when many still do not accept the basic validity of cross-gender identity and are itching to find anything that can be leveraged as ammunition against recognizing and affirming trans people.

Spotting Anti-Trans Media Bias on Detransition

While most people who transition are happy with the outcome, a small percentage (likely in the 1 to 3 percent range... ) may later choose to stop their transitions or take steps to retransition back to their birth-assigned gender. These individuals are often referred to as “detransitioners” or “detrans” people, although not everyone identifies with those labels. Their experiences are quite diverse: some detransition for more visceral or personal reasons...

Take Detransitioners Seriously

Some people reverse their gender transition. Understanding their experience is crucial.

The Debate Over Transgender Care and Detransitioning

Speaking from experience, my peers and friends who have undergone medical transitions have never “regretted” it, and after beginning care, their quality of life greatly improved. If Ms. Paul wants to demonize a procedure with a high rate of regret, she should look toward knee replacement, where one in five people end up dissatisfied.

The Trans “Detransition” Wars

It’s a real phenomenon. But it’s not the crisis many seem to think.

Why detransitioners are crucial to the science of gender care

Understanding the reasons some transgender people quit treatment is key to improving it, especially for the rising number of minors seeking to medically transition, experts say. But for many researchers, detransitioning and regret have long been untouchable subjects.

Xtra Explains: Detransition

There are plenty of reasons why someone will detransition—a term referring to the act of reversing medical or social transition—ranging from personal circumstance to facing transphobia and a non-supportive environment, such as non-affirming parents or experiences with conversion therapy. But detransitioning in general has become a hot-button issue, as many self-proclaimed detransition activists advocate for restrictions of gender-affirming care, particularly for you.

‘I literally lost organs:’ Why detransitioned teens regret changing genders

Historically, transitioning from male to female was vastly more common, with this cohort typically experiencing persistent gender dysphoria from a very young age. Recently, however, the status quo has reversed, and female-to-male transitions have become the overwhelming majority.