California Teen Detransitions, Tells Parents Not to Let Their Kids Go Through it

California teenager Chloe Cole is warning parents not to let their kids go through a transition, and she's speaking from experience after enduring a transition trauma for nearly four years.

Cole was 13 years old when she started taking puberty blockers for her transition journey into a boy. Two years later, she got a double mastectomy, which she now fears might have irreversibly damaged her body and raised her risk of developing cervical cancer at a later age.

Now 17 years old, Cole spoke of her transition trauma during a public hearing to support Rule 59G-1.050, which proposes to ban gender therapies and procedures from Florida's Medicaid services. The teenager admitted in front of the panel that she "didn't understand all of the ramifications" of her choice to transition at such a young age, per Fox News.

"I should not have taken this path"

In another conversation with Dr. Joseph Ladapo, Florida's surgeon general, Cole said her biggest realization came when it dawned on her that she would not be able to experience the bond of breastfeeding her future kids. That's when she finally knew that she should not have taken the path to transition.

The teenager advised young people struggling to find their identities, just like her, to wait before proceeding with medical interventions until they are fully developed adults, or they could make an informed consent. She also said parents should not allow their kids to transition because the damage to the body and mind will be hard to grasp and process.

Cole relayed via Common Sense News that she came out to her parents when she was 12. Her exposure to LGBTQ+ activism started earlier after she saw on social media that trans people received overwhelming praise and support by coming out and speaking about their journey. Admittedly, Cole hinted at her vulnerability when she said she didn't have a lot of friends she could talk to about her gender identity confusion, but she was pushed to transition because of this community spirit.

When she transitioned, she started going by the name of Leo. It was her mom who helped her with her testosterone injections. She also met with a gender specialist and therapist before deciding to proceed with the surgery to remove her breast.

By the summer of 2020, Cole slowly had regrets about her choices. Though she wanted the freedom to go out shirtless, she was still mostly confined to hiding the healing scars on her body. Then, she started missing the feeling of being a pretty girl.

In 2021, during her senior year, Cole decided to stop her testosterone injections. Schoolmates started talking behind her back, especially the young LGBTQ+ community but she met a boy from another town whom she described as a "gift from God."

Rising cases of detransitioners

Clinical psychologist and trans woman Dr. Erica Anderson raised her concerns about cases like Chloe, who may have transitioned "very, very quickly" and developed transition trauma. She told the New York Post that some doctors may be "defaulting to medicalization" instead of helping these kids with their mental health first. As a result, they are failing to help their patients.

A survey of detransitioning youngsters showed that 40 percent do not feel that their mental health condition was properly addressed before their transition. Some 60 percent said that their doctors did not thoroughly investigate the sources of their trauma and issues before concluding they were born in the wrong body. Some detransitioners were also disappointed to realize that their problems in life were not solved by transitioning.