Florida Detransitioner Isabelle Ayala who went from female to male at 14 – only to reverse the treatment three years later – sues American Academy of Pediatrics

A Florida woman who transitioned from female to male at the age of 14, only to transition three years later, is telling her story in a new documentary, hoping it will make others think.

Isabelle Ayala, now 20, is suing the American Academy of Pediatrics, claiming she was given testosterone after a 45-minute appointment while living in Rhode Island.

She told the documentary makers that she is relieved that she was never offered surgery as she would have wanted – and that her life would have been ruined.

“I really don't want this to happen to other vulnerable young girls,” Ayala said.

She said doctors only looked at her for minutes before she was diagnosed with gender dysphoria.

'If I had been a little more evaluated, this would never have happened. But it took you 45 minutes to change my entire life and cause me irreversible health problems.”

She said The New York Post she felt the procedures were offered too quickly and too easily.

'I don't want puberty to be the enemy. “I don't want our natural biology to be the enemy,” she said.

The documentary is part of the Independent Women's Forum series entitled Identity Crisis. Ayala's twelve-minute episode, The Detransitioner Taking on the American Academy of Pediatrics, tells the story of how she found a trans community online and embraced the idea of ​​transitioning.

She said she was sexually abused as a child and tried to escape.

'I decided to transition because of a series of unfortunate things I had associated with being a woman. And those things made me hate being a woman,” she said, adding that she first came into contact with the trans community at the age of 11 on Tumblr.

“This is going to heal me,” she remembered thinking.

Ayala said internet forums and social media taught her to say she was suicidal, so at age 14 she convinced doctors to help her. She is now suing them, claiming she was used as a guinea pig.

Ayala was prescribed testosterone, which she injected herself with

“I learned through the internet that I had to convince (my doctors and family) that if they don't confirm me, I'm going to kill myself,” she said.

“I was a healthy child,” she said in the documentary. 'I was a physically healthy child.

Ayala claims that Dr. Jason Rafferty, chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics' LGBTQ+ Health and Wellness Committee, prescribed her testosterone after the first visit.

She said she was taking legal action to prevent others from suffering.

“I don't want these doctors to practice anymore, I really don't,” she said. “I don't think they deserve to practice if they ignore the damage they're doing.”

Kelsey Bolar, IWF storytelling director and executive producer of the documentary, told The New York Post that Ayala's story was compelling.

“What I find so interesting about Isabelle is that she is a gentle person and not someone who looks for attention,” says Bolar.

“She's really doing this for the right reasons.”

Ayala claims doctors ignored the fact she has autism ADHD and suffers from PTSD, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder and depression when she was prescribed the medication.

She now suffers daily pain, with symptoms including vaginal dryness, burning and itching – which usually occurs after menopause – and is unsure about her ability to have children in the future.

Ayala is suing the doctors who treated her and the American Academy of Pediatrics, an association of pediatricians who she alleges knowingly misled the public by publishing and distributing a fraudulent positive care “policy statement” that many viewed as a authoritative guide is seen. for the treatment of gender-confused children in the US.

Isabelle Ayala, now 20, is suing the doctors who treated her and the American Academy of Pediatrics

Dr. Jason Rafferty (pictured left), a Harvard graduate, was the author of the association's 2018 policy statement, which essentially created the “affirmative care” model, in which the physician is guided by desires set by the patient expressed and the patient recognizes, validates and supports. identity provided by the individual. Pictured to the right is Dr. Michelle Forcier, one of the country's most prominent figures in “gender-affirming hormones and care plans,” who contributed to Ayala's care

Insurance claims for puberty blockers in the US have doubled since 2017

She also told the doctors that she was unsure about taking testosterone because she might want to have a biological child in the future.

Testosterone is a male hormone that stops the menstrual cycle and reduces the ovaries' ability to produce estrogen, meaning it can affect fertility and sexual function.

In November 2017, she attempted suicide.

She later moved back to Florida in June 2018, where she took testosterone for about a year before quitting it cold turkey.

Beyond the sex hormones, Ayala gradually grew out of her gender dysphoria and realized she was not a boy.

The years of testosterone injections have left her vaginal atrophy, physical pain and the onset of an autoimmune disease, Hashimoto's disease, which only occurred in men in her family.

'Isabelle has suffered from vaginal atrophy due to the frequent use of testosterone; she treats excess facial and body hair; she struggles with compromised bone structure; she is unsure whether her fertility has been irreversibly compromised; She continues to suffer from mental health issues and struggles with episodes of anxiety and depression, which are exacerbated by a sense of remorse,” the lawsuit said.

Other detransitioners have sued medical providers, but Ayala is the first to address the American Academy of Pediatrics directly.

They have not commented on her case, which was filed in October. She is seeking an unspecified amount in compensatory and punitive damages.