A woman who regrets her sex change has warned that the Scottish Government’s proposals to make changing legal sex easier will mean even more people transitioning.
Sinéad Watson first became uncomfortable with being a woman in her early 20s, and she was told online she must be transgender.
She changed her name to Sean, and was given hormone treatments by the NHS, before eventually having a double mastectomy.
‘Why do I hate myself?’
Sinead said: “I was very aware that I wasn’t going to literally change my sex, but I thought if I could transform to such an extent that I passed and lived socially and legally as male it would solve all the problems I had”.
“After the double mastectomy in 2017, there was a period of bliss, where I was like ‘I’ve finally done it. I set this goal for myself and I’ve achieved it’.
“And when the novelty of that wore off I thought, ‘You know, why do I still hate myself? Why do I still have all these issues?’”
She decided that rather than continue down the path to a hysterectomy and more surgery, she would come to terms with the mistake she had made.
‘Betrayed’
Sinead is now ‘detransitioning’, but having changed her passport and driving licence, she remains legally Sean.
She believes the Scottish Government’s proposals – which would allow someone to change legal sex after living as if the opposite sex for three months – are “dangerous”.
Applicants would have to swear an oath to confirm they intend to live permanently in their new gender.
The Scottish Government is also considering lowering the age from 18 to 16.