Here's what I wish my 14 year old self had known about the 'gender journey' she'd already spent two years embarked upon, from the perspective of a now 25 year old detransitioner.
And you can tell her that parents of other children like her will read this letter and cry because it's so poignant and true.
How I wish it wouldn't take bombings in Israel for other smart young women like you to realize their own bodies are their best allies, not their enemies!
This should be required reading for every teen and preteen convinced that transitioning is the correct path for them. Thanks for your bravery and good luck on your life journey.
Maia- I am so glad that you have found peace and happiness within yourself. Your line about what it took to realize that you were fooling yourself is hitting me hard. It’s a shaking of reality that has been robbed from the trans- identifying youth of today. They were brainwashed to think that being trans is their true, authentic self and we parents grapple with how to shake their reality so they can see what is so clearly anything but true or authentic.
I am going to put this brief, eloquent and heartfelt piece where I can find it again quickly in order to share it - one person at a time - with trans allies who have fallen deeply and passionately in love with a myth: the myth of the "trans kid."
Thank you Maia. Your writing is beautiful and important.
I found myself really curious about one line, if you don’t mind me asking. Did the binder at first feel comforting, like a hug? Was there a sensory benefit you were getting from it at the time? No worries if you don’t want to answer.
I'm not a parent of any child but this made me cry. What terrible lesson. Thank you for bravely sharing this honest account.
Other kids need to know these things before they commit. They need to know the costs and what they will lose. And we need to stop shaming gay/lesbian people. I would rather someone be authentically who they are than a mutilated facsimile of a biological sex who will never be physically healthy and will always be drug dependent for the whole of their life.
I’m so happy for you that you were able to find your way out of the madness.
I care about this issue in part because I’m a mom and I care about keeping my kids safe. I see their trans-identifying peers and it makes me so sad. I hope I can protect my own kids from getting swallowed by the ideology.
Your young awkward self reminds me of my own… I am 70, but I recall my awkward self. At that time nobody talked about gender identity at all. There were tomboys, there were girley girls. Later In high school there were gays. I remained an awkward girl. Looking back I was normal. Incredibly normal… because all young people have insecurities and awkwardness.
What was not a part of my youth was the internet or ideological influencers.
Bless you for your awareness and ability to articulate so exquisitely your journey!
I’m so deeply happy that you can say all of this to yourself now and so incredibly appreciative that you are sharing it so that maybe others can say it to themselves even sooner.
Thank you for your words, it does make me want to cry. I often think to myself if I had only done more to stop my child from making a horrible decision things would have been different. My son told me when he was 23 now he is 31 and still believes that he was born in the wrong body and should have been born a woman. It causes me so much pain to think he must have hated himself so much that he thought this was a solution to his problems . He hasn’t spoken to me in 3 years, I only know him as my first born baby, and his life up to the point he told me, as my boy. He was also kind of an oddball kid who hated himself going through puberty, I wish I could have found the words to help him. Sadly you are right, this is a false ideology that many who don’t understand losing a child to this can’t even begin to understand the pain. Yet they still believe this is a real thing. It is make believe and it angers me when people try to push this ideology as if it’s completely true. It is a lie! I want my son back more than anything.
And you can tell her that parents of other children like her will read this letter and cry because it's so poignant and true.
How I wish it wouldn't take bombings in Israel for other smart young women like you to realize their own bodies are their best allies, not their enemies!
Thank you ❤️
Feel free to share this with parents
This would be great for the PITT Substack. Can I ask them if they want to republish it, or are you in touch with them?
It would be great if they could restack it!
This should be required reading for every teen and preteen convinced that transitioning is the correct path for them. Thanks for your bravery and good luck on your life journey.
Anyone can bring it to them
Maia- I am so glad that you have found peace and happiness within yourself. Your line about what it took to realize that you were fooling yourself is hitting me hard. It’s a shaking of reality that has been robbed from the trans- identifying youth of today. They were brainwashed to think that being trans is their true, authentic self and we parents grapple with how to shake their reality so they can see what is so clearly anything but true or authentic.
Thank you for your thoughtful work.
Thank you for your thoughtful comment
Maia: Thank you for being you.
❤️
This is really powerful. Thank you.
Thank you :)
I am going to put this brief, eloquent and heartfelt piece where I can find it again quickly in order to share it - one person at a time - with trans allies who have fallen deeply and passionately in love with a myth: the myth of the "trans kid."
This is so wonderful! You will be saving girls' and women's lives. Thank you!
Thank you Maia. Your writing is beautiful and important.
I found myself really curious about one line, if you don’t mind me asking. Did the binder at first feel comforting, like a hug? Was there a sensory benefit you were getting from it at the time? No worries if you don’t want to answer.
I’m still trying to figure these things out
Thank you for your response! sending well wishes
I'm not a parent of any child but this made me cry. What terrible lesson. Thank you for bravely sharing this honest account.
Other kids need to know these things before they commit. They need to know the costs and what they will lose. And we need to stop shaming gay/lesbian people. I would rather someone be authentically who they are than a mutilated facsimile of a biological sex who will never be physically healthy and will always be drug dependent for the whole of their life.
I’m so happy for you that you were able to find your way out of the madness.
I care about this issue in part because I’m a mom and I care about keeping my kids safe. I see their trans-identifying peers and it makes me so sad. I hope I can protect my own kids from getting swallowed by the ideology.
Thank you Maia, captures so many emotions and truths.
I'm so glad you found it meaningful
Yesss, farm the Substack engagement, grrrl
Hahahaha
I really hope so
Your young awkward self reminds me of my own… I am 70, but I recall my awkward self. At that time nobody talked about gender identity at all. There were tomboys, there were girley girls. Later In high school there were gays. I remained an awkward girl. Looking back I was normal. Incredibly normal… because all young people have insecurities and awkwardness.
What was not a part of my youth was the internet or ideological influencers.
Bless you for your awareness and ability to articulate so exquisitely your journey!
Bless you for sharing so poignantly!
I’m so deeply happy that you can say all of this to yourself now and so incredibly appreciative that you are sharing it so that maybe others can say it to themselves even sooner.
Thank you for your words, it does make me want to cry. I often think to myself if I had only done more to stop my child from making a horrible decision things would have been different. My son told me when he was 23 now he is 31 and still believes that he was born in the wrong body and should have been born a woman. It causes me so much pain to think he must have hated himself so much that he thought this was a solution to his problems . He hasn’t spoken to me in 3 years, I only know him as my first born baby, and his life up to the point he told me, as my boy. He was also kind of an oddball kid who hated himself going through puberty, I wish I could have found the words to help him. Sadly you are right, this is a false ideology that many who don’t understand losing a child to this can’t even begin to understand the pain. Yet they still believe this is a real thing. It is make believe and it angers me when people try to push this ideology as if it’s completely true. It is a lie! I want my son back more than anything.