I began 'gender transition' at 16. I was lied to in a terrible way. Now I am seeking justice

PROGRAMMING ALERT: Watch the author discuss this topic and more on "America Reports" between 1 and 3 pm ET on Friday, July 21.

My name is Prisha Mosley and I’m a 25-year-old woman and detransitioner. Since childhood, I have struggled with my mental health. As is the case for many girls, my teen years were particularly difficult. Tragically, at age 14, I suffered from a sexual assault. At age 15, I was hospitalized for depression. By age 16, I was diagnosed with major depressive disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and an eating disorder. I engaged in self-harm by cutting myself, which became so serious that I was taken to the emergency room.

Starting when I was 16 years old, and continuing into my teen and young adult years, doctors and counselors set me on a path of medicalized "gender transition." They told me that changing my body to look like a boy’s body would cure my mental health problems. They told me that injecting large amounts of testosterone into my female body would be good for me. They also encouraged me to undergo surgery to remove my healthy breasts.

I trusted these health care providers to take care of me. Because of that relationship of trust, and my vulnerable condition, I believed what they said and I thought they were treating me properly.

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Years later, I realized that I had been lied to and misled in the worst possible way. Years of taking testosterone prevented my body from developing as it should have. It caused significant vaginal atrophy and the inability to have intercourse. 

My voice was permanently changed; I was no longer able to lift my voice and sing, which I used to love doing. I experienced severe pain in my shoulders, neck, and genital area. I do not know if I will be able to conceive and give birth to a child.

As a result of breast surgery, I have to live without my breasts and I am unable to nurse a child, should I be able to conceive one. I have pain in my chest where my breasts used to be.

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This "gender-affirming care" was anything but. Instead of addressing my severe mental health issues and helping me feel comfortable in my feminine body, my doctors and counselors pushed me into the belief that damaging my body was the answer. It was not the answer. Their "care" – in the form of testosterone injections and breast surgery – left me broken, with extreme physical injuries and without my body parts. It did not cure my mental health problems and instead made them worse.

I have shared my story, to warn others about what is happening in America. I have testified before state lawmakers and committees to explain the need to protect vulnerable individuals like me.

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I also want troubled teenagers, who are looking for belonging and acceptance like I was, to know that you can be accepted for who you are. Trying to change your body won’t fix you. It’ll break you. And you don’t have to change your body to please anyone, certainly not health care providers who stand to benefit financially from setting you on a path of lifelong medical care.

I am still picking up the pieces and trying to put my life back together. I am in dire need of health care, as I live with the consequences of what the doctors and counselors led me into when I was a teenager.

As the next step in my journey, I have decided to seek justice from the legal system, hold my health care providers accountable, and hopefully serve as a warning to other doctors and therapists not to do this to anyone else. 

There are many teenagers out there struggling with their mental health like I was. They need to be supported, not given sterilizing medications and have their healthy body parts removed.

Editor's note: The author was featured in the Independent Women’s Forum’s Identity Crisis series. Watch here.

Prisha Mosley is a 25-year-old woman and detransitioner.