RETHINKING TRANS YOUTH CARE: SOCIAL MEDIA, GENDER CONFUSION, AND ETHICAL LIMITS ON MEDICAL TRANSITION IN TORREY PETERS’ DETRANSITION, BABY

Abstract

This paper examines how detransition and transition regret are currently conceptualised in research and clinical practice, and explores what this means for early intervention in gender-affirming care. It brings together empirical work on detransition and regret with theoretical perspectives from gender performativity, medical ethics, and developmental and early-intervention models in psychiatry and clinical psychology. The analysis shows that detransition is a heterogeneous, multi-dimensional process shaped by psychological, medical, social, and structural factors, and that regret is only one of several possible experiences within this process, neither necessary nor sufficient to define it. It also finds that existing definitions and measures of detransition and regret are inconsistent, that much quantitative work relies on narrow yes or no items, and that these practices risk flattening complex trajectories into simplistic outcomes. The paper proposes a multi-dimensional framework in which detransition is assessed across domains such as identity, embodiment, social role, legal status, and meaning-making, and in which different forms of regret are distinguished from each other and from other motivations for change. It concludes that more nuanced concepts and measurement tools are needed if early intervention in gender-affirming care is to respect autonomy, minimise harm, and provide flexible, non-stigmatising support for both transition and detransition, and it outlines implications for clinical assessment, service design, and future empirical research.