‘Considering a sex swap? Think again’, warns detransitioner

A detranstioner who once took male hormones and had a double mastectomy, now describes herself as “a happy, confident woman”.

Aerin, from Sheffield, said that when she spoke to doctors as a teenager questioning her gender, she was not offered therapy and her autism went undiagnosed; instead, she was ushered onto a transitioning-pathway of drugs and surgery.

After 15 years of ‘misery’, during which time she battled with anorexia and was diagnosed with autism, Aerin chose to stop taking male hormones. Now 34, she shares her story to help other gender-confused young women.

Misdiagnosed

Aerin believes now that she never should have been given sex-swap drugs. She explained: “The whole investigation into changing my gender wasn’t thorough enough. I was unwell with anxiety and low self esteem at the time and nothing was picked up on.

“All I did was fill out two assessment forms. I’d researched the answers so I knew what to say to get what I thought I wanted.”

She said that she was “so thankful” that long waiting lists meant she never underwent bottom surgery. Aerin described how she felt pressure to “stick with” the cross-sex hormones, as detransitioning “felt too difficult and I wasn’t sure how people would react.”

Detransition

In December 2024, Aerin decided to stop using her male name ‘Aaron’, changed her clothes, and texted everyone she knew to tell them she was no longer identifying as male: “I knew detransition had been in my mind for years. I thought, ‘well it will be hard but anorexia is harder’”.

She recalled that, when her beard stopped growing back, “things started to feel easier”. She added: “It was such a great feeling to get my periods back, I never knew someone could be so excited about a period.”

Aerin describes how she is “just happy to be me”, but warned: “If you’re considering a gender transition think twice, talk about it as much as you can.

“If you’re a woman and you feel like you don’t belong, this doesn’t mean you’re not a woman.”

Malpractice

Earlier this year, an autistic woman who underwent a double mastectomy at just 16 years old was awarded $2 million in compensation.

In the first verdict of its kind, a jury in New York State gave Fox Varian $1.6 million for pain and suffering, with $400,000 for future medical expenses.

According to court documents, the now 22-year-old was diagnosed with autism at 14 and struggled with anxiety, depression and an eating disorder. The following year she started questioning her gender, but just five months before her surgery she reportedly told a counsellor that she was still unsure of her ‘gender identity’.

Speaking in court, Varian said she quickly realised that the procedure was a mistake: “I immediately had a thought that this was wrong, and it couldn’t be true. It’s hard to face that you are disfigured for life.”