Critics of gender-affirming care often point to the growing number of “detransitioners” to support arguments against providing it to minors. Estimates of the number who detransition vary widely and its prevalence may ultimately be unknowable, since detransitioners may break off contact with their former medical providers. York University social work professor (and trans powerlifter) Kinnon MacKinnon has studied nearly 1000 detransitioners and found that their motivations are not all the same: only about a third express serious regret over their initial decision to transition, while 29% report detransitioning due to social or familial non-acceptance, 20% report an evolving perception of their gender identity, but do not regret having experimented with transition, and the rest report a mix of motivations. Those who most regret transition tend to be assigned female at birth and to have begun medical transition at a very young age.
Detransitioners Are Not a Monolith
