Lahl

We live in unprecedented times, when what was known for thousands of years, that we are created male and female, is now up for debate. It is now controversial to see that sex is binary, that a man can never become a woman, nor a woman a man, and that men should not enter women’s sports, women’s bathrooms, and women’s prisons, merely for saying that they are a woman. We are witnessing a rapid rise in gender confusion among young people, especially among young women and girls.

The Detransition Diaries is both personal and historical. It is personal in that it recounts the stories of five women and two men who felt they were born in the wrong body and believed the lie they were told by peers, teachers, and medical professionals that they could be their ＂true＂ selves by medically and surgically altering their bodies to match the opposite sex. Their stories describe the short- and long-term harm that so-called gender-affirmative medicine did to their mental and physical health. The book is historical because it outlines the history of the ＂gender-affirmation＂ movement, including the various individuals and organizations who have peddled the idea that the sexual binary is arbitrary.

The book closes with an analysis on how this dark chapter in medical abuse might end and what is needed for medicine to regain its obligation to do no harm.

Jennifer Lahl is the founder and former president of the Center for Bioethics and Culture (CBC). She spent twenty-five years in pediatric nursing and senior-level hospital management before founding the CBC. An award-winning documentary maker, she has produced several films including Trans Mission: What’s the Rush to Reassign Gender?, The Detransition Diaries: Saving Our Sisters, and The Lost Boys: Searching for Manhood.

Kallie Fell is the executive director of the Center for Bioethics and Culture and a perinatal nurse. In addition to coproducing documentaries for CBC, she hosts the podcast Venus Rising and is the program director for the Paul Ramsey Institute.