What is detransition?
Detransition is commonly referred to the process of a person reverting to one’s birth gender after they began some aspects of gender transition.
When mentioned in the media, it is often used, incorrectly, as a synonym for “regret”, and used to justify bans or restrictions on treatment.
Detransition can involve one or more of the following:
- (e.g. someone taking masculinising hormones if they were previously on feminising hormones)
These are all deeply personal decisions, and not everyone who makes these decisions might consider themselves to have detransitioned.
At other times, some trans people who have transitioned may temporarily detransition to present as their birth sex in contexts like:
Both detransitioning and retransitioning are valid choices. As long as a person knows and has full knowledge of the risks and effects, they should have the autonomy to detransition or retransition independent of social and familial pressures.
Detransition is not transition regret
Some people detransition without regretting transition. Others regret transition but do not detransition.
Transition regret is rare, especially when it comes to surgery. A January 2023 study of 1,989 trans patients in the US found that only 0.3% regretted surgery and requested a reversal.
Regret rates for hormone therapy are higher but difficult to quantify, as some trans and non-binary people may intentionally choose to get off hormones after permanent changes (such as voice changes or breast growth) have taken effect.
Others pause treatment in times of financial difficulty, or even detransition until they are more financially stable.
Some who detransition but experience no regret may feel that their transition helped them better understand themselves or their gender-related care needs, or gave them valuable perspectives that they are grateful for. In other cases, they may have experienced a shift in their understanding of their gender — such as realising they are non-binary, or that they do not experience much body dysphoria and are content with living as their gender without medical intervention.
Regret may also disappear when a trans person experiences greater acceptance in their lives.
Conversely, there are trans people who regret transition but do not detransition.
This regret may stem from the financial, social and emotional difficulties associated with living as a trans person, or even realising that they were wrong about their identity.
Nonetheless, they may find the idea of detransitioning to be even harder, especially if transition has alleviated their gender dysphoria. Others who realise they are not trans after all may feel that they have come too far to turn back, and may have built up a life in the meantime that they are happy with and do not wish to lose.
Retransition
About two thirds of those who stop transitioning eventually transition again when the initial barriers - like lack of family or social support, or financial difficulty - have been resolved.
Like detransitioning, forms of retransition can also be fairly varied - such as reverting to a chosen name or restarting gender-affirming hormones.
Healthcare for detransitioners
People who opt to reverse their transition require the same kind of healthcare offered to those wishing to transition.
The medical interventions available will work just as well in reverse, but some changes from initial transition are permanent or cannot be reversed, or require surgical correction.
Suddenly stopping transfeminine HRT could feel like severe menopause — with anxiety, mood swings, hot flushes, and some degree of masculinisation.
You may also experience some degree of osteoporosis due to a hormonal imbalance.
Suddenly stopping transmasculine HRT could lead to headaches, anxiety, muscle loss and depression, as well as weight fluctuation.
Many of these symptoms can be managed through a healthcare provider who will reduce your hormonal dose slowly.
It is highly recommended that you do so.
The effects of gender-affirming HRT may either be reversible or permanent, but alterable through surgery.
Reversibility of effects
| Effect | Permanency |
|---|---|
Breast development | Permanent/Reversible only through surgery |
Softening of skin and decreased skin oiliness and acne | Reversible |
Redistribution of body fat in a feminine pattern | Reversible |
Decreased muscle mass and strength | Reversible |
Decreased sex drive and spontaneous erections | Reversible |
Erectile dysfunction and decreased ejaculate volume | Reversible |
Decreased sperm production and infertility | Mixed; may require fertility treatments |
Decreased testicular volume | Unknown |
| Effect | Permanency |
|---|---|
Muscle or fat changes | Reversible |
Menstrual cycle | Reversible if uterus not removed |
Skin oils, texture or acne | Reversible |
Body scent | May change |
Increased sex drive | Reversible |
Voice deepening | Permanent, reversible only through speech therapy or voice training |
Facial and body hair | Texture or growth of hair may change, but hair that has developed will not disappear. |
Clitoral growth | Permanent; clitoral size will not shrink |
Hair loss (male pattern baldness) | Head hair loss is mostly irreversible, but may see improvements after going off T |
Some transition-related processes may be reversed — like surgery to remove breast implants, or reverse phalloplasty — but other transition-related processes, like facial hair removal or breast tissue removal will be permanent.
If a person’s gonads (testes or ovaries) are removed, they will have to take hormones to reverse previous masculinisation or feminisation effects.