(LifeSiteNews) — A gender-confused man who underwent a “sex reassignment” surgery as a teen recently shared his regrets, decades later, of the decisions he made. He published his regrets in an April 11 opinion piece for The Washington Post.
The man, who now goes by the name Corinna Cohn, said he wants parents and kids to hear what he learned.
“Given the strong cultural forces today casting a benign light on these matters, I thought it might be helpful for young people, and their parents, to hear what I wish I had known,” Cohn wrote.
As a teen and young adult, Cohn believed later he would adopt kids but now realizes the “pang” of not being able to produce children that are biologically his, due to the surgery. “It was easy to sacrifice my ability to reproduce in pursuit of fulfilling my dream,” Cohn wrote. “Years later, I was surprised by the pangs I felt as my friends and younger sister started families of their own.”
Cohn said that he struggled with other mental health issues in addition to his gender dysphoria. “The sacrifices I made seemed irrelevant to the teenager I was: someone with gender dysphoria, yes, but also anxiety and depression,” Cohn wrote. “The most severe cause of dread came from my own body. I was not prepared for puberty, nor for the strong sexual drive typical for my age and sex.”
The ongoing chemical manipulation of his body is a type of “bondage” that he can never escape, Cohn said. “I must choose between the risks of taking exogenous estrogen, which include venous thromboembolism and stroke, or the risks of taking nothing, which includes degeneration of bone health. In either case, my risk of dementia is higher, a side effect of eschewing testosterone.”
He also warned about the role the internet played, even in the 1990s, in his decision. A forum called Internet Relay Chat “allowed me to meet like-minded strangers who offered an inexhaustible source of validation and acceptance,” Cohn wrote.
His warnings about transitioning and the role of the internet are part of a common theme among people who had “detransitioned” or who otherwise regret the mutilation of their body.
Helena Kerschner, a woman who lived as a man for several years and took puberty blockers given to her by Planned Parenthood, said “internet communities” pushed her to believe she was really a man.
“The gender ideology is very prominent there,” she told Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles, with specific reference to blog site Tumblr. She said there are many “social incentives” for members of those online communities to change their pronouns and embrace gender ideology.
“They’re what makes you feel accepted and they’re where you want to fit in, so you’re willing to do almost anything to kind of conform to that social group,” Kerschner said.
Journalist Andrew Sullivan expressed a belief that the Washington Post publishing Cohn’s story shows a “shift” in attitude towards transgender ideology.
A real sign of a shift when the WaPo allows a debate in its pages. https://t.co/OqngYuOSuS
— Andrew Sullivan (@sullydish) April 11, 2022
“A real sign of a shift when the [Washington Post] allows a debate in its pages,” he tweeted in response to former New York Times’ staff editor Bari Weiss’ tweet that Cohn’s story was “heartbreaking.”