As a biologist, one of the most distressing things to me, was when I found out that hormone therapy does not try to imitate the normal hormonal cycles. No estrogen cycle, no progesterone, no fsh or lh. This is not making men female like in physiology, it's turning men into something that never evolved or existed. There's no way that our genetics can handle that long term.

Also I was scheduled this summer to get bottom surgery and I watched your shape-shifter detransitioner video and I almost immediately decided against it. You might have saved my life and I have to say thank you SO much.

I can’t imagine the head fuck you just go through when you wake up post op and then gradually realise the surgery was a mistake. That must really tear someone apart 💔

Im 15 my dysphoria has gotten horrible since the start of highschool since my physical differences between males has become more apparent thank you blaire for allowing these voices to be heard it really helps me understand that i am young and even if i feel now hormone are a great choice for me i should wait and get multiple different views to make my choice

IF THIS DOESNT SHOW how unethical Doctors and the pharmaceutical industry CAN BE , then nothing will .

"People who haven't transitioned but consider themselves trans are the ones who speak the loudest/on behalf of everyone else." So true.

Transitioning is very glorified on the internet. I remember watching many trans KZfaqrs living their best lives after transition. Before discovering Blaire I had thought everyone is happy with their transition, and I remember searching about detransitioners and it was very rare to find any of them, it was definitely very odd. I appreciate you Blaire. Thank you.

He has SO much emotional and traditional mental intelligence. Just wow. I am in awe of him. You’re brave and we appreciate you speaking up. I’m just so sorry you had to go through this, but you’re a damn beautiful human being and your struggle has made you the amazing human you are today ❤

i was very much a tom boy as a kid, i didn’t “feel” feminine until i got highschool/college. i feel like no one lets girls be tom boys anymore.

Richie is so worried of “rambling” and easily digressing, yet his explanation of the levels of estrogens in old age and their link to Alzheimer’s was for me one of the most interesting part of the interview!

Im a detransitioner myself, and I am so thankful that I lived in Florida where it was harder to get put on HRT or get surgeries. I started my detransition some 8 years ago now.

Just over 5 mins in and he says something just like Jazz Jennings has recently said: (not quoted)' Why do I always have to put a positive spin on transitioning?' Just wow! I work in pediatrics healthcare and I feel that a lot more therapy needs done before making these lifetime decisons. I mean kids still can't get tattoos for crying out loud but we can start supressing their natural hormonal developments?? Just wow!

It's sad how detransitioners are discounted because they don't fit the narrative. Even if you are a detransitioner, you are still part of that community. If a community can't learn, then it's in trouble.

This is very very concerning. I can’t believe we live in a time where people actually advocate doing this to children.

This detrans story hit me harder than all the others. He just seems so grounded but the consequences are so extreme. I feel so much sympathy for him :( he reminds me a lot of people I meet in sobriety who have been through major shit. But we can move on from our mistakes, he can't. And he had professionals who should be helping him. Ugh! It's so terrible.

I'm a massage therapist studying the endocrine system (in charge of hormones) right now and this man is spitting facts! 🔥

Hormones or lack of hormones leads to early onset dementia. I just learned this. I had a hysterectomy 18 years ago after my son was born due to medical issues. They never told me how important our body parts are to our brains. Especially when it comes to hormones. You can’t just switch it up.

How can anyone say this is hateful? It’s someone’s life experience. There is no prejudice, just the things they have gone through.

Richie has more allies and friends for being honest than he realises. Kudos to both of you.

Texas just passed a law not allowing under 18 , thank goodness. So sad how many lives have been devastated. Both adults and children. Thanks for bringing truth and awareness.

This is heartbreaking! In 10 years we are going to see an explosion of this with parents to blame.

Blaire’s face throughout this interview looks like she is very emotionally affected by this. It’s really admirable she takes the time for these hard conversations, coming from her perspective it’s so important. Much love to both of these humans ❤

Blaire’s face says it all at 23:00 This conversation is so hard and it’s so sad Blaire’s literally in tears and she’s not alone.

As someone who had surgery down there for non transition reasons, the recovery was so brutal and took months to resolve. I was also mentally traumatized.

I loved the way Blair put it. When she said that even though she's an adult who's been transitioning for 7 years, that even SHE is still learning things she didn't know, so how can a minor, a CHILD, make that kind of decision? That was so spot on children are far, FAR less experienced in life, under developed mentally and physically so they should not be making this decision so young! My heart goes out to this young man and any other person who regretted getting bottom sergury, I can't begin to imagine how this must feel...

We, women avoid using hormone therapy during menopause because doctors tell us how truly harmful it is. Too bad doctors working with gender patients aren’t as honest. They withhold the info from their patients.

“Estrogen increases melatonin” that explains why I feel exhausted 24/7 every time I have been pregnant. I had never even thought about that before.

What an ABSOLUTELY INTELLIGENT and kind and well spoken man. Bless him for trying to help others .

Rotchie should stop apologizing for talking so much. We're all here because we want to hear his story, and he's saying some incredibly interesting things

I'm so grateful that I was born in the 1970's instead of the 2000's because I was a very effeminate little boy who would get in trouble for putting on girls' clothes. If I had born in the 2000's, myself and my parents would have been told I was trans and I would have gone through a similar hell as this. Thank you for telling your painful story, Ritchie. And thank you for suing. They won't listen to any of us, but they might listen to people like you.

I once had a pro-trans person online tell me that, according to "studies", when people have gender reassignment surgery a certain percentage of them experience increased sexual pleasure and performance. Yet whenever I hear first hand accounts from transgender people like yourself and your guest who speak the ugly truth of it all, they say that it destroys their sex drive and/or makes the act of sex very difficult if not impossible. I asked them to explain this and they stopped responding.

I love Ritchie. He’s so well informed and has a very calming way of speaking. My heart breaks for him, they are just mutilating these poor people and then casting them aside.

This guy needs to be a therapist. He is so intelligent and you can feel he really cares. I absolutely respect him. Thank you for being real!

Should be mandatory to watch this before transitioning and having bottom surgery.

At last a video showing two people talking and listening to each other about this madness. Showing honesty and care and courage to speak the truth. Keep going.

The weight gain after bottom surgery and the inability to keep it off reminded me of Jazz Jennings and how much her family has been belittling and bullying her about her weight gain post op. Her family used her for monetary gain and fame and now that she’s struggling due to her circumstances the very ones they exploited she’s been knocked off the pedestal they put her on for so long and treated as a problem. It’s so sad to see. I hope she gets far away from them off reality tv and heals.

as a detransitioner myself, thank you for giving people like me a platform to speak

The most painful to me is the glamour of it all, imagine peeing yourself, being in constant pain - and still feeling like you have to make your appearance look more female with the wig and the makeup before you go out. This has become an allegory for fixing whats on the outside and locking away the inner problems in shame

Whenever I hear about males having penile inversion I literally shiver. I feel so bad for them. It sounds like a terrible surgery 😮.

I’m a “Cis Woman” and I was using hormonal contraception pills for over a decade, i believe that what I was taking can’t even be compared to a hormonal treatment for transitioning. But anyway I was tired all the time, had almost no libido and my mental health was in the garbage. I have a sequence of failed relationships because of hormones. I’m off of it for about a year and my life changed! I can only imagine for a born men to go through all of that. I’m sad that people don’t talk about this more. *sorry about my English, I’m still learning*

I am a 52 year old woman goring through menopause and my hormones are unbalanced, and I’m going through hell! I cannot fathom to imagine the misery of a body chemically manipulated to performed other than it was originally designed to do. You are brave souls.

in a MUCH smaller scale, when I had my lasik surgery (eye surgery to correct severe myopia), no one told me that the number one side effect of the surgery was dry eyes. Now, a year later, I am 100% dependant on three different types of eyedrops, and will probably be forever. No one informed me of this. It honestly feels like a betrayal, and I can't even comprehend the scale of suffering both transitioners and detransitioners go through because doctors just don't fucking explain things.

Ritchie is very charismatic. Super magnetising. Would like this very articulate person on their own programme.

Thank you so much for giving detransitioners a platform, Blaire. It is a terrifying thing for people to come out and say that they have made a mistake, especially one as serious as this. I think trans people are "supposed" to hate detrans because they are terrified that they will grow to regret their decisions too. There are things that I regret that are permanent - some of my tattoos for an example. I am so glad that there are compassionate people like you. You are an amazing woman, Blaire 😊

What a corner we’ve backed ourselves in to. History will recognize and appreciate ppl like Blair, I feel.

Blaire mentioned in her earlier interview with Shapeshifter that upon hearing these horror stories, she is incredibly relieved she didn’t have bottom surgery. I don’t blame her. It’s probable a significant amount of those trans-women - men who have been castrated are suffering terribly in silence - both physically and psychologically.

As a cis woman new to your platform, thank you. This shit is wild. I am doing a deep dive and it is so horrific i have to shy away sometimes. So grateful youre making all yalls voices heard.

This sounds like a HORRIBLE NIGHTMARE. I'm so sorry you went through this....

My nurse grandmother who is now 84 years old always told me that there is no such thing as an easy or simple surgery. There are always risks to even minor surgery. She would always say this in the context of conversations about plastic surgery and warned me that it wasn’t a good idea. I cannot believe we do this to people except for in drastic scenarios with lots of therapy and it should still be a last resort. Uhhhgg…sad…

I love Ritchie. I could listen to him for hours. Smart, articulate, and a very sweet soul. I hate what was done to him, but I'm so glad he's chosen to speak out about it and try to help as many people as he can. I wish him the best in life, I truly do.

I feel terrible for this person and Blaire we can really see how this interview effected you. I really hope our medical community starts doing much better for these people.

Blaire looks absolutely heartbroken. She’s so incredibly empathetic. How can anyone say she’s hateful. This channel is single handedly saving our generation.

This is absolutely devastating. To think people want to silence these voices and traumatic stories is reprehensible.

I CANNOT BELIEVE THERE ARE DOCTORS OUT THERE DOING THESE BOTTOM SURGERIES TO HUMANS..

Hormones are something so delicate and so important. I took birth control pills for like a month and the way I had so many changes to my brain. I was having horrible panick attacks out of no where and I had no idea it was because of the hormones I was taking. Now, just those pills havo so so many freaking side effects that can cause even death. There hasn't been enough studies about how these treatments affect different bodies long term. I can't believe we are not realising how we are literally guinea pigs to the farmacy industry.

I feel for this young man so much as his life will never be 'normal', he is such a lovely open person ,I hope he finds someone to help him. The fact he described himself as a eunuch really made me cry for him

It broke my heart when he said that if he goes on testosterone and gets a libido back, he'll want to kill himself. Extremely sad I really feel for this guy

Blair watching you hold back tears was heart wrenching! I’m sure on some level, even if you don’t regret your transition, you resonate with this young man and know what he is going through.

Just the thought of penile inversion surgery makes me cringe. Ritchie, what you went through was wrong and the doctor or doctors should be held accountable. I do know this though, you are a brave and gentle soul and you are very wise for your age. Stay strong and positive

As a 66 year old woman who had a complete hysterectomy with a total of 4 procedures done at that time... bladder sling, rectal as well as vaginal prolapse repairs along with the removal of uterus and ovaries... AND... having complications afterwards, I can't even FATHOM choosing as a young adult to go through such trauma. I've had residual effects for the past 10 years including the loss of sensation and pain, not only during intercourse but just in everyday life. My (once active) sex life has been set aside for years now, despite my emotional desire. I have nightmares from all of this. All this to say, please don't ever think that such invasive surgery is a walk in the park. My heart goes out to the young people 💔 😢

Bottom surgery is one of the worst ideas. It's not necessary, it's high maintenance, and it's honestly gross - and the mutilation is heartbreaking.

I am a biological and living female. I have stage 4 endometrial cancer. Estrogen feeds my cancer, I had a total radical hysterectomy which means I don’t even have ovaries. My body still makes a very small amount of estrogen in the pituitary gland so I was put on a man made progesterone to aid in eliminating that estrogen. I am suffering of severe menopause symptoms for over 11 years now. What ever you have heard of these symptoms was watered down. Hot flashes, cold sweats, because my hormones will be unbalanced until I die, I will suffer with this. I have debilitating fatigue to the point where I am 90% bed ridden. Mentally…. Nothing helps. Anti depressants don’t do anything as this is an imbalance of hormones… so I am doomed to live out the rest of what ever time that I have like this. It is hell on earth. My point is…. DONT FUCK WITH YOUR HORMONES! There is ALWAYS side effects that are debilitating. It’s much more than your outward appearance, what happens internally is beyond awful! You need balance in your hormones to function properly.

My heart breaks for the pain and suffering you've been through. I'm so sorry you're going thru this

I’m a plain ol’ cis female, struggling with early menopause in my early 40’s. I’ve never appreciated so much how sensitive our bodies are to hormones, and I never knew how much they affect every part of our physiology and mental health until I experienced the effects of it myself. Seeing doctors hand out hormones like it’s no big deal to adults, not to mention kids!!!, is absolutely shocking to me now that I know firsthand how much we are affected by even slight variations in different hormone levels. To put out the message that we can just “pause” puberty, or later reverse the changes made by using hormones for a while, is completely insane. Doctors take an oath to do no harm and messing with the hormones of physically healthy children or adults is blatantly harmful.

All the teens starting their transitioning journey should see stories like this. They are not getting complete picture of decisions they are taking now that are permanent.

I am not part of the trans community, however I have been involved in training programmes to help trans women get an education in the beauty industry to help them find better, long lasting jobs. I met many of them at different transitioning points, and the experiences they shared varied from happy-ending to nightmare-ish. This was truly enlightening. Ritchie is so articulate and raises so many issues that need to be resolved, while Blaire is so respectful and supporting. A delight to watch, I hope there will be a second part of this interview.

Richie, you need to become a doctor. You have the genius for it, and you are still young, but you would help SO many kids!!! OMG, you could change the world in a very real way...

Isn't this the definition of a cult? shunning people for talking about things they will expose issues, forcing people to act/say/accept things that they DON'T agree with..etc...

I just want to say that as a conservative, Christian woman who has been very minimally exposed to the trans world, I really appreciate you sharing your story. I have so much compassion for you. Thank you for sharing your experience. Thank you for standing up for children. I’m so sorry you went through this but you are doing the best thing you can do by sharing your story and warning people. My heart goes out to you and for all those who are hurting and going through this.

Oh dear God. I honestly had no idea that the physical repercussions of bottom surgery were so horrdenous. This poor young man. I am in tears listening to this. I don't always love beaing a woman because lets face it, despite how it is often painted there is more to it than make-up and high heels, but to lose the abilty to feel pleasure, desire, passion, I would never be able to sign up for that.

I have no words just tears, just tears, lots of tears and hurt for these who have been so terribly misguided who should have been sheltered and protected at all cost by their parents.

And it’s not just a surgery. They become a patient for life! 💰💰💰

Hormones are important for a healthy body. Menopausal women know this. We really need to talk to and listen to our female elders and not treat them with scorn. Lack of estrogen causes weak bones, mood imbalance(women get more aggravated with less estrogen), hot flushes and brain chemistry changes. Dementia is the icing on the cake here. Introducing it to the male body is not a great idea. Testosterone ravages the female body and causes vaginal astrophy and possible sterilisation. Dr's must layout the consequences of this and people need to know what they are signing up for. Kids should not be given hormones. They need to be an adult to make these decisions.

Boomers: “I can’t believe I wore bellbottoms” Gen-X: “I can’t believe I wore my hair like that” Millennials: “I can’t believe I was a goth/emo” Gen-Z: “I can’t believe I cut my dick off”

The scared look in her eyes when talking about demensia etc. Imagine learning things like that

I'm a straight woman- so no dog in the fight- but I recognize the invaluable importance of this conversation. What you are doing is so important and I'm confident you are saving lives. Trans people and parents need access to this vital information ❤

My heart breaks for Ritchie. I feel the medical community is using vulnerable people as guinea pigs to experiment with, the risks be damned.

The honesty and integrity in Ritchie is something else. What a wonderful person ❤️

I'm watching Blaire holding it together, being so professional - must have been tough, honey. This is one of the best interviews you've done, and Ritchie is so effing together and honest and interesting - I'm just "wow", with a heavy heart,, and hoping for good things, and grateful to be with you both for a bit. Thanks for this.

It’s absolutely horrifying what Vanderbilt has been doing here in Nashville to children regarding transitions! And the fact that they lie about it too.

It’s crazy because they have been talking about bottom surgery for at least 2 decades saying it’s so easy and works so well. They used to say “you can keep all your penis nerves, of we’ll use sensitive skin so you’ll still have such a groovy sex life!” I never trusted that, and hearing people’s stories now it’s crazy! How could they take $$$ from people and give them a surgery that is so problematic?

Bless you Ritchie for helping others by enlightening them to the rarely mentioned after effects of this barbaric surgery. Praying for you.

I am late to the party. Thank you for this interesting discussion. As a woman, I never knew all the inside information related to transitioning and the effect of hormones on the brain. It is shocking how little information is shared with the people suffering from gender dysphoria and are looking into hormone replacement therapy. It is important for people to know this in order to support the trans people around them. Thank you again 💛

First time I've ever heard about the early onset dementia thing. It is amazing how much of the dangers of this they hide, what happened to the medical community? My grandmother just passed 2 weeks ago following a battle w Alzheimers and as her primary caretaker I assure u it is absolute hell that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy, for this not to be explained to patients is just infuriating to me.

As an older woman, it's sad to see young people have issues with their bodies. Youth is when one should enjoy his body.

I loved this interview, you can really see and hear how intelligent Ritchie is. I bet I'd enjoy talking to him as well. The "rambling" wasn't annoying, they were my favourite bits.

I have a child born biological female who identifies as nonbinary and wants to trans to male. I'm so thankful for pro-trans and detrans people to just talk about what they've learned. Thank you for doing this! We love our children, we want them happy and informed!

I'm 67, F, retired, new nothing of transgender issues, spent last 5 years educating myself. I'm still learning. Ritchie, I'm sorry you are now compromised in your sex life and sex drive. That must be very hard for you. I send you my best wishes for your journey forward.

Massive respect to Blaire and Richie for the crucial work they're doing here.

Thank you Ritchie and Blaire, for putting this out there. It takes so much courage. I hope that many thousands will see it, and not rush in with their eyes closed, whatever they choose.

I'm a heterosexual woman, 62 years old and found your conversation very interesting. In teenage years the brain outgrows the skull causing certain pressures, especially the thinking element, being capable of rational thoughts is definitely affected. As a mother, I watched my kids go through many things, but I explained that at their age their minds go a bit squiffy and they can talk to me about anything. My daughter was a tomboy, had many more male friends than female, and she said "mum do you think I should have been a boy", I said "come back to me when your 18 and we will see then". She's now 30 with a 10 year old son and as feminine as they come. Children do not have the thought processes to make such life changing decisions.

I have a bladder condition and had a botched surgery to treat it. The chronic pain has been devastating to my life. Please, please be careful with surgery options.

What. The. Hell. This is horrible. What a nightmare. How is our society allowing this??? The people who are pushing this and hiding all of this need to be held accountable. What. Monsters.

My daughter's therapist actually shamed me and tried to use s**cide rates in trans people whose parents don't support their transition(a stat that we all know is bunk) to try to force me to support my 15 year old's (at the time) transition. She was begging me for top AND bottom surgery, starting trans related fights with me all the time, pressuring me for blockers and T, and telling me that all my actual memories of her growing up as a girl were all forced on her and we all just had it wrong all along. All while being told by her therapist that I was the problem, and it would essentially be my fault if she did something to hurt herself. The minute she told me she was trans, I started doing my own research, and I terrified myself with stories like this one. The therapist wasn't having any of it. I love my kid, and I KNOW my kid, and she isn't a boy! She loved her dresses and playing in my heels. She loved the color pink and wanted long hair like "Tangled" (Rapunzel). She loved playing barbies and dolls. There was never a question one about being a boy or feeling like a boy or why am I not a boy. Not a single one. But I've got her telling her that we (society) forced all of that on her and her therapist was right there to confirm that for her. We left that therapist and went to someone new who had been in mental health for a long time, and it made a world of difference. They made a point of addressing her other issues (adhd, dep/anxiety, ocd) and not putting any focus on her being trans. She is still identifying and presenting as a boy, but she isn't so completely ruled by it and has stopped defending it so viciously. I hope that she realizes how dangerous this can be and that it isn't just a trend on tictok to feel relevant. This decision and these irreversible surgeries take deep soul searching and intense research that I just don't believe kids and teens are capable of ESPECIALLY with other untreated issues on board. I guess the point I'm making is to say that the mental health field is not above pressuring and using shame tactics to force parents who are reluctant to comply.

It baffles me that they continue to say it is "suicide prevention", like someone unwell mentally will get better with procedures that will f. up their body on top of the mental issues.

I'm so glad that Blaire has made this project podcast. Blaire if it wasn't for you in 2015 to 2016 finding you I would have been on hormones and have gotten the surgery by now. It is thanks to you that I worked out my actual problems instead of covering it up with a very dangerous infectious bandaid. You are truly an advocate and an icon for the real transcommunity and not whatever this is right now. Which to me looks a lot like coerced sterilization of the mentally ill.

"You can't transition from male to female and then back to male. I never because a female, and I'm not going back to male. I took hormones and had surgery, that's it." Boom! Reality. Oof. We need more of that on this issue. That said, you can 'live as [insert identity here]' and that should be fine, you're an individual you do you, but you will never actually be that thing - though you may have shared experiences. None of that means you should be bullied, nor should you be mislead or even lied to by those who "support" you. edit: HOLY S**T... The repeated pressure to have such a destructive surgery is insane 😤 These people need a sturdy ground and the medical and scientific community should be reliable for that stability, but it's not and this is exactly why. They are too busy virtue signaling to offer objective common sense advice - like: no, you should not cut your hotdog off.

I really think this gent is horrendously intelligent and has so much potential in this world to just do wonderful things. I imagine you as the researcher that's needed or the doctor that's needed. Truly a handsome bright young man with just limitless potential.

i had to pause a few times so i didn't start balling. Richie if you ever read this, just know you are so incredible brave for telling us your story and bringing light to this. I had no idea detrans people were going through this much. my heart goes out to all you guys.

This poor man. I cannot even imagine how much he suffers day to day. I swear on my fucking life that my daughter will NEVER go through this shit.