I have a relative who was trans. She recently detransitioned and is finding a lot of difficulty, gate keeping and opposition for her decision.
For context, she was born a girl and grew up in a household where domestic abuse and sexual abuse was the norm. She struggled with her mental health, depression has always been there. She struggled with her identity as a teenager in terms of going through phases (goth, emo, preppy and so on). As a young adult, she came out as trans and was disowned by her family. She lived abroad for a time and recieved testosterone via the insurance based health service. When she returned to Scotland, she was seen at a gender clinic. The Dr (now retired in Spain) at the clinic did not look into my relative's mental health or history of sexual abuse. She was not assessed by a psychologist either which I find shocking. She now feels that as a naive, young adult, traumatised and confused, she was steered towards transitioning, including being asked leading questions. After a few sessions at the clinic, she had a full mastectomy and hysterectomy in her early 20s (on the NHS) and had been on testosterone for the last 16 years or so.
Last year she was able access support via a mental health nurse and this lead to her realisation regarding her trans identity.
She now feels she became trans as a defence mechanism to cope with the trauma from being abused by men. I think she is right.
She is devastated because now of course, she cannot have children and is struggling with facial hair and a non feminine appearance.
She had to fight to get permission to stop taking testosterone and has only recently been allowed to start taking HRT. She will not recieve help from the NHS for reconstructive surgery. She does not have the funds to fund this privately and this is affecting her mental health.
She has reached out to charities such as Stonewall and Women For Scotland and they don't want to know, stating its not their area.
She is looking to take some sort of legal action against the clinic as she feels and certainly the evidence suggests, that she was pushed into a decision when she didn't have full mental capacity. She has been left feeling let down, rejected and that the trans movement is very much a cult. I'm starting to think that way myself. I supported her for years, for the sake of her mental health and against my own instincts. Since witnessing how establishments are shutting down discourse and access to help for detransitioners, I'm convinced it is a cult now. Detransitioners seem to have pariah status, there is not a great deal of information on the Internet about it even.
Does anyone here have any insights into how my relative can either access affordable or ideally free legal advice? She either needs financial compensation to fund breast reconstruction or somehow convince the NHS to do it for free. That's her biggest issue right now. Thankfully she did not have bottom surgery during the trans years. She is funding regular electrolysis herself. She is heartbroken that she has been robbed of her ability to have children. I've wondered if it's even possible to contact JK Rowling about this but I doubt she reads her own mail. It's just very frustrating because we don't know where to look or who to ask. It's obviously quite a niche and complex situation but my relative deserves help and support. It's utterly galling that men play acting as women will be humoured but a bio woman's issues will be swept under the carpet.
I'd be grateful for any help or advice. I'm feeling especially let down by Women for Scotland and increasingly worried for my relative's mental health.
