1. Early medical steps can create lasting, unwanted body changes
Several young people who started the Dutch protocol in early puberty now live with irreversible features that no longer match how they see themselves. One girl who took puberty-blockers at 12 and moved straight on to low-dose testosterone says she is now, at 15, “a female with a deep voice and masculine face” and admits, “I feel like a science experiment” – redactedchicken source [citation:2dd43582-62a2-45e5-844f-754f843e3965]. Because these physical changes are permanent, she can only wait and see how her body develops now that she has stopped the drugs. The story is a reminder that medical interventions begun while the body is still growing can leave lifelong marks that do not disappear if feelings or identity later shift.
2. The system can move faster than the young person’s own reflection
Families sometimes plan the whole pathway—blockers, hormones, surgery—long before a child has had time to explore why they feel uncomfortable with their sex. The same teenager recalls, “My family and I had been planning to do the Dutch protocol since I was pretty young” – redactedchicken source [citation:2dd43582-62a2-45e5-844f-754f843e3965]. When professionals, parents and online communities all agree that medical transition is the answer, questioning or slow, careful exploration can feel impossible. The pressure to keep up with the schedule can drown out the ordinary doubts that many adolescents naturally have.
3. Dissenting voices exist inside the clinics themselves
Even within the Dutch system that helped design the protocol, some clinicians worry that speed has replaced caution. One commenter reports reading “about five doctors leaving a sex-reassignment clinic in the Netherlands… because they didn’t agree with how fast gender reassignment was being pushed on patients” – 6Bluecats source [citation:954b6c9f-2879-480e-ace2-eb38eb2a2572]. When staff resign over ethical concerns, it signals that the public image of consensus may not match what happens behind closed doors. Their objections underline the importance of asking, “Can we slow this down?” before any medical step is taken.
4. Follow-up care can be thin or circular, leaving patients stranded
After surgery, adults who were treated under the Dutch model describe a revolving door between gender and mental-health teams. One detrans man says the Amsterdam hospital “works like a factory… No follow-up… They refer you to a mental health ward… which sends you back to the gender team” – Stuckinmiddleground source [citation:06d2bdcf-144c-4b22-924d-4c2c1f6ed5fa]. Without clear, long-term support, people who develop regret or new psychological needs can find themselves stuck, passed from department to department without anyone taking responsibility for their ongoing well-being.
5. Non-medical paths—talk therapy, family honesty, and full permission to be gender non-conforming—remain the safest first resort
Every account shows that medical answers arrived before emotional questions were fully unpacked. The teenager who started testosterone at 12 had never been offered space to live as a girl who simply preferred short hair and boys’ clothes; the adult who regrets vaginoplasty was never encouraged to explore why he felt being a feminine man was insufficient. When distress is met first with conversation, not clinics, young people can discover that feelings of alienation from pink or blue stereotypes do not require a new body—only freedom to ignore the stereotypes.
If you are questioning your gender, know that confusion is normal, bodies are lifelong, and time is on your side. Explore your personality, your style, your friendships, your fears—preferably with a therapist who will not push medical solutions. Let your body grow naturally while you gather the emotional tools to navigate a world that still clings to narrow gender rules. True liberation is not found in hormones or surgery; it is found in giving yourself permission to be exactly who you are, without a prescription.