From girl to boy and back again: Zahra Cooper reverses decision to become male

May 1, 2017October 1, 2021

NZ Herald 29 April 2017
Family First Comment: So we identify as one gender until we identify as the other gender until we identify as the other gender….???
It seems far more compassionate and biologically truthful to tackle the underlying problems, unhappiness and disorders without denying biological reality, doesn’t it?
#biologymatters
From girl to boy and back again – a young woman has reversed her decision to become a male in what is believed to be one of the few cases of transgender “detransition” in New Zealand.
Zahra Cooper, 21, spent almost a year on testosterone treatment and had been living as a man for three years when she decided to go back the gender assigned to her at birth.
It was a harrowing journey that led through anger, depression and attempted suicide, but one she has decided to share to raise awareness of the complicated nature of gender.
“I’ve always struggled with my gender identity all my life like always questioned whether I was a boy or a girl,” she says.
“At first I came out as lesbian but then I realised I was transgender,” she says.
At age 18, she asked people to start referring to her by a male name and pronouns. Age 20, she went on an eight-month wait list to see a specialist, and then was prescribed testosterone – and began what is known as a “medical transition”.
She expected to feel elated, but it wasn’t right.
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