"I miss my breasts so much". These 6 tragic words are the title of a Reddit post, in which a girl who "transitioned" at 18 expresses her regret at age 27. At the time, she describes how she was "always 10000000% sure" she made the right decision, but is now going through a "mourning period" for her original body.
A recent article by the New York Times suggests this tragic experience will become increasingly common in the near future, as it details a surge in transgender operations, and in particular mastectomies, on minors.
Now, at the risk of trotting out a cliche, we don't typically let minors make many life-altering decisions. We don't let them get tattoos, we don't let them get married, we don't let them have sex, we don't even let them drink. These are just a few adult privileges justifiably denied to all below a certain age. We can, of course, quibble about the details and suggest some of these ages are too high or low, but one thing we should all be able to agree on is that kids need a lot of adult supervision and guidance, because they will not make sensible decisions on their own.
Because of this, it makes no sense to allow kids to choose their gender. In fact, I myself can testify to this, as I also claimed to be female as a child. I dread to think what would have happened to me if I'd grown up in today's culture, but I am so very glad it didn't. I'm grateful I wasn't put on puberty blockers, and especially that I am anatomically intact.
But it seems many children in recent years are not so lucky, with one medical center reportedly committing 70 mastectomies in 2019, compared to a mere 5 in 2013 (which is still too many, but you see the increase). This is a major problem, because transgender regret is a common thing, even among those who transitioned at a more reasonable age.
The exact number of regretful transgenders is hard to pin down, partly due to lack of official studies, but also due to the fact that it's a lot harder to come out as ex-trans than it is to come out as trans. It is an unfortunate fact that pro-trans activists are notoriously vicious towards anything and everything that is contrary to their agenda, and nothing would threaten that agenda more than a large number of detransitioners coming out to denounce the practice of transitioning. Thus, it takes a lot of bravery to come out to the public as ex-trans.
Some people do it anyway. Charlie Evans, for example, launched the Detransition Advocacy Network in 2019. After publicly coming out as a detransitioner herself, she testifies "I'm in communication with 19 and 20-year-olds who have had full gender reassignment surgery who wish they hadn't, and their dysphoria hasn't been relieved, they don't feel better for it," (1), following it up with the tragic statement "They don't know what their options are now."
One should be enough. "Hundreds" who contact Evans seeking help, including 30 from her own area of Newcastle, should be enough to close this debate. Keeping in mind, of course, Charlie Evans is not alone.
But the sad thing is, whatever the options are for young people who have transitioned and regret it, they do not include a full detransition. It's not like a bad purchase on a pair of jeans where you can take it back to the store as long as you kept the receipt. We're talking about life-altering, irreversible surgery. And we are giving it to the generation that fell for the Tide Pod challenge.
"Coincidentally", if indeed it is a coincidence, the source of both problems appears to be the same. In one study, 86.7% of parents "...reported that, along with the sudden or rapid onset of gender dysphoria, their child either had an increase in their social media/internet use, belonged to a friend group in which one or multiple friends became transgender-identified during a similar timeframe, or both" (2).
With such an increase in the transitioning of minors, there will no doubt be an increase in transition regret. Eventually, not even the most spiteful activists will be able to shout them down as "traitors". But it ought never have reached this point. What sort of culture sacrifices its children on the altar of sexual identity?
The kind without Christ, of course.
Suffice to say, our Creator did an excellent job. In fact, when He rested on the 7th day of history, He called His finished work "very good". There was no gender dysphoria in this world. Adam was a man, and happy about it. Eve was a woman, and happy about it. But apparently, they were not happy being subservient to God, and so they violated the simplest command He gave them: "Do not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil".
This singular act plunged the whole of creation into futility. But we continued the trend. In fact, in Romans 1, God tells us, through the Apostle Paul, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse," (Romans 1:18-20). But in spite of our lack of excuse, we continue to reject Him. Therefore, He tells us "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;"
When culture rejects God, God rejects culture. The rise in abominations, such as we see today, is no accident. It is its own punishment. We demanded God leave us to do our own thing, and so He has done just that. As a culture, we will drink from our own cup until it causes us to vomit.
We are not the first generation to do this. In fact, when you read the Old Testament, even God's chosen nation goes through cycles. Good times create wicked people. Wicked people create bad times. Bad times create penitent people. Penitent people receive good times. Good times create wicked people.
But there is always a glimmer of hope. Hope, first, in the fact that the bad times created by wicked people may well result in penitent people, who then create good times. There are only two options for our culture: Either we will be totally destroyed and replaced, or we will rise above this abomination as the number of its victims soars too high to be contained.
But more importantly, even in the midst of destruction, there is salvation. As Lot was saved from the destruction of Sodom, so also can individuals within a culture repent. And the irony of that is, these may then become a bulwark against God's wrath, as He promises Abraham to spare a city for 10 righteous people.
But in this world, nothing is immortal. No city, no country, no empire, will stand the test of time, as one day, the heavens themselves will roll up like a scroll and be burned in a fervent heat. Even before then, every man is destined to die. After that, God will judge their every deed, their every word, and even their every thought.
None of us will pass that test, as each and every one of us has sinned, falling short of His glory, and earning for ourselves His wrath. We may not have messed up a kid's life by mutilating their reproductive anatomy, but have we not lied? Have we not blasphemed? God's word says that to even hate is to murder, so then how will we receive life from Him?
Through His Son.
There was a single human being who walked this Earth without once earning the wrath of God. From His conception to His death, not once did He so much as bend the Lord's laws. Yet He died as a sinner. He received in Himself the full penalty for sin, though Himself knowing no sin. The result is that all who confess Him as Lord will be counted righteous. This is what we should be offering those with gender dysphoria. The love of our Creator, who made them as they are.
References
1. Lockwood, Sally - 'Hundreds' of young trans people seeking help to return to original sex, Sky News, October 5th 2019 (link)
2. Littman, Lisa - Parent reports of adolescents and young adults perceived to show signs of a rapid onset of gender dysphoria, Plos One, August 16th 2018 (link)