Recovering herself

Soren Aldaco, an emerging leader in the “detransitioner” movement, began identifying as transgender at age 11. Growing up in Texas, she’d gone down “a rabbit hole of websites and niche online forums” trying to figure out who she was. As a teen, deeply distressed and diagnosed with a variety of mental illnesses, she became fixated on the idea that hormone treatment and surgeries might provide some relief.

At age 17 her stepmother took her to a nurse practitioner the family had met at a support group. He prescribed testosterone and estrogen blockers 30 minutes later. At age 19, she underwent “top surgery,” a double mastectomy. By then, she was on 10 different medications. She suffered severe complications and bruising, and six months later realized she hadn’t been born in the wrong body after all.

In 2023, she sued several of her medical providers for malpractice, arguing that the “gender-affirming” treatments were horribly destructive. Most of her initial claims were dismissed in part because of statutes of limitations in Texas. But the state’s Supreme Court recently ruled that, no, she had filed in time. Hers is one of two dozen or so pending cases filed by detransitioners across the country. Now, at age 23, she’s realized how coercive gender-identity ideology was, “disguising harm as compassion.”

How did you end up receiving gender-affirming treatment after one brief visit to a nurse practitioner, given your medical history? He was in the same support group as my father and stepmother. About 30 minutes into the visit he prescribed  testosterone, and there wasn’t any questioning regarding my motivations. It really was just, you’re here, I have the pad, I’m going to write you this prescription.

What accounts for the attitude that says you can’t question anyone who says they want to become transgender? There’s a community of individuals willing to go above and beyond to facilitate transition, even an online database where you can research therapists in your area who are willing to write for free letters authorizing things like ­mastectomy. They have this social justice mindset that says people are oppressive and they don’t want you to access ­[gender-affirming treatment]. Just because you want it, it means you need it, and anyone who stands in the way is a harm-doer.

Detransitioners also often describe a willingness to bypass normal standards of medical care. What’s unique about trans care is a lot of it is cosmetic, yet it’s treated as medically necessary. And so you have this weird convergence, where you’re getting that same kind of off-handedness that you might see if you’re getting lip filler. Yet it’s actually very invasive, with endocrinological interventions, and also something as major as a mastectomy.

Other detransitioners have described how, when they first receive cross-sex hormones or puberty blockers, their initial reaction is, wow, this is cool. This is really helping me. But over time they see more and more negative effects. What was your experience? I felt very happy and satisfied at first because I got what I wanted. But reality catches up to that immediate gratification. [Because of the testosterone], you feel the hot flashes and all the hunger, and you overeat. You have the surface level euphoria, but underneath there is still that thing, that sickness, you were originally treating. While on testosterone I was experiencing so many side effects that by the end of two years, I realized, even before I ideologically stepped away from the transgender identity, that I needed to stop the hormonal interventions.

There’s clearly been a vibe shift recently regarding transgenderism. Detransitioners like yourself are filing lawsuits, the Trump administration is investigating “gender-affirming” treatment providers for fraud, and even some medical associations are backing away from supporting these procedures. Do you think a day of reckoning for those pushing these treatments is on the way? I do think there is a reckoning coming. We see so many individuals speaking out, and we see movement in the legal spheres, with lawsuits like mine and Fox Varian [who won a $2 million judgment against her providers in January] and Chloe Cole [whose lawsuit against Kaiser Permanente will go to trial next April]. But a lot of people assume that if we just do the right work that the results will come to fruition in the moment. But anyone who has ever done any gardening knows that’s just not how it works. We’re going to have to sow a lot more seeds and do a lot more fertilizing.

Was there a religious component in your decision to detransition? For much of when I was identifying as trans I considered myself an atheist. And I had a pretty rocky childhood with a nondenominational megachurch. Toward the end of my detransition, I just connected to this idea that, OK, there is something greater than me, and I see that working in my life. And when Charlie Kirk was assassinated, it just really made me pause and think, OK, there is evil in the world.

Over time, I [embraced faith in Christ] through observing creation first, and then I felt more affirmed in that understanding through getting to know God, through the Bible, and through communing with other Christians. I see the work that Jesus has done in my life, and see the way that my faith has shaped my call to speak out on this topic.

You’re married now. What convinced you to want to have children? Partly just growing up and maturing. Also, just recovering my sexuality, because for a long time I acted on some of the traumas I went through as a child. It did manifest through same-sex attraction. As I worked through that, and after I met my husband, it dawned on me that I have this very internal, instinctual desire to want to have kids. And it’s just a blessing that I have a husband who I love so much and who I think would make an amazing father. Now it’s a little bit more realistic and within reach for me to ­actually have kids. It’s not just an idea.

I didn’t know you’re a Christian when we started this interview. I’m really glad I asked. Me too. I’ve lived such a chaotic life so far. When I first started speaking out on the subject, I was in a lesbian relationship and was not really practicing any kind of faith at all. Not a lot of people know that difference in my life just yet.

What I’ve discovered is that to truly have peace with who I am now, I had to view myself through the eyes of the Creator, to realize that I am imperfect yet redeemable. That actually helped me a lot in my relationship with my husband. I realized that, not only can I not be Creator, I can’t play Mr. Potato Head with my life and my body parts. I have to have this perspective of the world and of myself that reflects God’s love for us.