1. Fear of career damage keeps scientists quiet
Several people say universities and medical journals quietly discourage any project that might show high regret rates. A detransitioned woman who talked to her clinic’s lead researcher was dropped from the study the moment she said she felt she was “just a woman.” She warns: “If you think they have any interest at all in reporting cases of sub-par satisfaction rates and regret accurately, I don’t know what to tell you” – tole_chandelier source [citation:871bbadb-f8a1-4f25-892f-66f6b6e013bb]. Professors worry that even asking the question could be “a career-destroying move,” so the data are never collected.

2. Old numbers come from the wrong group
The much-quoted “1 % regret” figure was gathered years ago from small samples of older, mainly male, surgery-track patients. Today’s gender-questioning people are mostly young females who never had surgery; they simply stopped hormones or changed social role. A detrans man explains: “While detransition was considered rare among traditional, mostly male-to-female, late-transitioning transsexuals, that profile is no longer typical… this is a completely different population that hasn’t been studied at all” – MrNoneSuch source [citation:5648486b-14a5-4f7b-a24c-63c941325900]. Using yesterday’s statistics for today’s very different group gives a false sense of safety.

3. Studies use definitions that hide most detransitioners
Researchers usually count only people who legally reversed a name change or had surgical “reversal,” so anyone who simply quit hormones or went back to living as their birth sex disappears from the totals. One woman writes: “Hardly anyone on this sub-reddit would get picked up in these ‘studies’” – tole_chandelier source [citation:05a99183-d8b8-4c22-a703-779304a0382b]. Because the surveys recruit through trans support groups, people who have left the community are never found, making regret look rarer than it is.

4. Activist pressure can shut projects down
When a Brown University researcher tried to survey people who had re-identified with their birth sex, she was, in the words of one detrans man, “relentlessly attacked… The truth is we don’t know the number who detransition because the activists don’t want people to know” – tole_chandelier source [citation:05a99183-d8b8-4c22-a703-779304a0382b]. Universities, clinics and journals fear being labelled “non-inclusive,” so they avoid the topic altogether.

Conclusion
The controversy is less about science than about silence: career worries, outdated samples, narrow definitions and political heat have left a blank page where good information should be. If you are questioning your gender, know that the absence of solid long-term evidence is itself evidence that society has rushed ahead without listening to the people who turned back. Take heart—many have found peace through therapy, community support and simple gender non-conformity rather than medical steps. Your story deserves space, study and respect, and choosing to explore who you are without hormones or surgery is a valid, courageous path.