I was given drugs to become Sean... then realised I had made a terrible mistake
A WOMAN who underwent gender reassignment treatment in the belief that she was transgender has spoken of her regret at the decision.
Sinead Watson, 31, from Glasgow, started identifying as a man from the age of 20, taking the name Sean.
She had become deeply unhappy in her body while going through puberty and internet searches led her to discover the term ‘gender dysphoria’.
In 2014, aged 23, she referred herself to the Sandyford Young People’s Gender Service in Glasgow and was put straight on a 12-month waiting list for treatment.
When she was seen again, she told doctors of a suicide attempt she had made because of her gender dysphoria.
She was prescribed the hormone testosterone, a key part of the female-to-male transitioning process.
Sinead was referred to Manchester General Hospital at 26 where she underwent a double mastectomy, a procedure known as ‘top surgery’ when carried out as part of a gender reassignment. All of her treatment was funded by the NHS.
However she said she had very little counselling over the transitioning procedure.
Sinead said: ‘I had cosy chats with my doctors where I was asked how university was going but I was not given any therapy or counselling. At the time I was delighted to get treatment quickly.’
However, the drugs and surgery did not help resolve her mental health problems and following a period of elation, she realised she was still unhappy and went into depression, withdrawing from her friends and family.
The testosterone made her feel moody and aggressive and she realised she had made a mistake and did not want to transition to become a man.
‘However, I carried on taking the testosterone because I felt I had gone too far to ever be accepted as a woman again,’ she said.
Sinead was so depressed she quit her degree course just two months before her final exams. Seeing no way out, she then tried to take her life. At her darkest point, she reached out through the internet to other women who had detransitioned.
‘There are hundreds of detransitioned women out there across the world,’ she said. ‘I realised that if I carried on as I was, I was going to continue self-harming, drinking alcohol and thinking about suicide. Detransitioning was my only option.’
She began her detransition in 2019 by ceasing her testosterone injections.
However, she has been left with facial hair that she removes every couple of days, thinning hair at the back of her head and a deeper voice. The former university student now campaigns to raise awareness of detransitioning.
‘I have rape and death threats for speaking out about detransitioning, but it is important I continue to do so for the sake of others. I can’t undo what I did but I can stop the next girl from doing it.
‘I think gender identity should be treated alongside mental health issues, eg within CAMHS [Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services]. Many of these children have co-morbid conditions such as depression and autism.
‘We know the demographic has dramatically shifted from mostly males to mostly females and the huge increase in referrals indicates social contagion.’