‘Detransition, Baby’ by Torrey Peters

I was very skeptical at first when I read the summary of 'Detransition, Baby' by Torrey Peters. A trans woman who detransitions? Wouldn’t that feed into the transphobic narrative that trans people are 'just confused'? I hesitated, worried the book might be misunderstood—or worse, misused—by those who already hold harmful beliefs.

But it doesn’t do that at all. Instead, the book confronts transphobia head-on. It shows how the pressure to conform, to survive in a world that relentlessly polices gender, can lead to devastating compromises. It reveals how transphobia isn’t just external—it infiltrates relationships, self-perception, and dreams of what a life could be.

This book is messy, raw, and honest. It doesn’t try to make its characters perfect or palatable. But in doing so, it creates space for a more honest conversation about gender, identity, parenthood, and chosen family. It challenges the idea that there is only one way to be a woman—or one right way to build a family.

Ultimately, it’s a story about love and possibility. Not in a feel-good, everything-works-out kind of way—but in the way that love can survive in the cracks, in the complications, in spite of the world’s expectations. And that’s what makes it powerful.

CW: transphobia, misogyny, emotional abuse, infertility, pregnancy loss, discussions of detransition, misgendering, drug use, mentions of suicide