At the age of 18, Daisy Strongin underwent a gender transition because she thought she wanted to become a man. 4 years later, she regrets it and faces the irreversible impacts of that choice.
Daisy says her transition was sparked by depression, confusion surrounding her gender and excessive internet use, she even shared her own transition “journey” for thousands on social media.
“I go by Ollie now, because I am a female to male transgender. That is how I identify right now,” she said in a video documenting the beginning of her transition.
Directly following her high school graduation, Daisy underwent masculising hormone therapy that reduces oestrogen production, creates a deeper voice, more body hair and more muscle mass.
Daisy documented her experience throughout this process, taking viewers on a journey of hormone injections, voice changes and ultimately her double mastectomy. She was finally perceived as a man.
“There was sort of this high that came from it, that came from the control that I felt like I had over the way that other people saw me,” she said.
But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Daisy says the high she had from her gender changes began to wear off. But her depression and feeling of incompleteness lingered.
The confusion only grew as she felt drawn to motherhood and to Christianity, ultimately leading to what she says was a necessary yet terrifying decision to de-transition.
“I was like, so terrified because I didn’t know if I would be able to find a partner. Now, being a woman with a deep voice and no breasts, like just living my life as that was just very terrifying to me,” she said.
“And just like, sad and overwhelming. It’s like. This is forever. Like these scars are forever. This voice is forever.”
Her attempt to become a man remains evident in her daily life, even now as a wife and mother. Just moments after giving birth to her second child and having the inability to breastfeed, Daisy wrote: “If only I could somehow go back in time to 2018 and show myself these photos. Those are not happy tears.”
But despite these struggles, Daisy did not lose hope.
With their children in mind, Daisy and her husband pursued their interest in Christianity. After visiting various protestant churches, they were ultimately attracted to Catholicism.
Daisy and her family were received into the Catholic Church last year. And while she says she still has a long way to go in rebuilding her life, she continues to share her story in the hope it may help others not to make the same mistake she did.
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