A young woman is speaking out about her experience being transitioned by Planned Parenthood after being prescribed testosterone over the telephone. Kate Pond, who first shared her story to Tiktok, told
The Publica just how easy it had been to start a hormone regimen with little oversight.
As a sophomore in high school on the central coast of California, Pond describes how she felt that she didn’t fit in with her more popular peers and, like many youth in her situation, sought out comfort on the internet. But her problems began when she stumbled upon a micro-blogging social media platform called Tumblr in 2013.
At the time, Tumblr was enjoying a meteoric rise in popularity, announcing over 13 billion global page views that year. The site was particularly popular amongst teen and college-age youth, with half of Tumblr’s visitor base being under the age of 25.
But while the site had
a huge user base of fans gushing over various cartoons, video games, and musicians, it was also known to harbor a number of disturbing subcultures, such as those encouraging
eating disorders and self-harm. Tumblr was also known for the
often-wild “social justice” campaigns that circulated on the site related to weight, race, or gender.
Speaking to
The Publica, Pond says it was there that her ordeal began. Isolated at school and unsafe at home with a father who she describes as a “narcissistic abuser,” Pond found some much-needed community on the internet.
“I did not have a good home life. I was bullied in school. I was into fandoms and most of my friends were older people online,” she explains. “One day, one of them mentioned the term ‘gender fluid’ to me. I did not know what it was, and researched on Tumblr.” After referring to Tumblr posts on the subject, Pond soon decided that she fit the description because she did not “feel” like she fit in as a boy or a girl.
Pond first “came out” to her math teacher, who then introduced her to the school’s Social Justice League, where several LGBTQ students met twice per week. While Pond says she found acceptance on Tumblr for her new identity, she soon found that acceptance did not extend to the Social Justice League, where other youth mocked her for her appearance.
“Tumblr really affirmed what I thought I was, but I was never enough for anyone [in SJL]. They told me that because I had long curly hair, that I could not be gender fluid,” she says.
Pond explains that she became increasingly depressed. In the summer of 2015, she sought out a pixie cut and began to identify as a “female to male” transgender. She “came out” once again to the Social Justice League president and her friends, who then told her they were “proud” of her.
For Christmas in 2015, Pond asked that her presents come in the form of gift cards to various stores. She used the cards to purchase low-quality “chest binders” to flatten her breasts.
“They were super tight. I could not breathe. But my mindset was ‘I can’t breathe but I look more masculine’. I changed how I dressed and I put mascara on my fake mustache,” Pond says.
“When COVID began years later, I was living in California and I was stuck in my dad’s house. I thought ‘the world is ending so I might as well die in the body I want to be in’. I started researching transitioning on Google, and the first thing that popped up was Planned Parenthood.”
Pond was 20 years old at the time, and, after trying to set up an appointment with the clinic, she was told that Planned Parenthood had moved all appointments to telephone due to the lockdown policies.
“The day of my telehealth appointment, they basically asked me three questions: The first question was ‘why do you want to be on testosterone?’ I said it was because I identify as a transgender man, and I want to be more comfortable in my body. Then they asked me if I had medical problems such as joint, lung or heart problems. I told them no, because I didn’t. Lastly, they asked me which pharmacy I wanted the testosterone sent to.”
Planned Parenthood gave Pond three options for her testosterone medication; A gel, a patch or a needle. She chose the patch and was able to pick them up from the pharmacy the very next day.
“I think the co-pay was around $15 or $20. I was on the patch for maybe a month, and the whole time I was having an allergic reaction where the patch was applied,” Pond recalls. “In June of 2020, I called them to say I was having a reaction, they then suggested the gel but that I would have to up my dose.”
About three months into her treatment, Pond began to experience severe and crippling migraines, one of which put her in the emergency room. Planned Parenthood dismissed the incident as a “side effect.”
Pond then had a seizure, and suffered from severe joint pain afterwards, and again, Planned Parenthood told her it was a possible side effect. Confused, Pond began to question whether she had been properly informed of the downsides of taking testosterone, but Planned Parenthood challenged her and claimed she had been fully informed. While Pond says she had asked about any negative side effects when beginning the hormones, she says the Planned Parenthood clinician hand-waived them away as being “rare.”
Just 6 months into taking the hormones, Pond decided she wanted to wean off of the drugs. But, after asking Planned Parenthood for help to safely cease her regimen, she says she was ignored.
“I watched a story about a detransitioner and started to follow her,
Cat Cattinson. I began to relate to her and started to question if this is really what I wanted. From then on I began to detransition,” Pond says.
“I had to wean myself off because when I told them I wanted to stop, they just kept offering me injectables or the patch, even though I had a bad reaction to the patch … I was on the gel for maybe 5-6 months before I realized that it was not making me any happier than I was before … and I did not feel transgender anymore,” she explains.
But even after ceasing her testosterone regimen, Pond says that she still continued to suffer with physical consequences. In a TikTok video, Pond says that she still has migraines, she cannot walk without pain, she has fatigue, and has gained approximately 50lbs. Her menstrual cycle, which stopped after she began testosterone, has still not returned.
Though Pond has tried to confront Planned Parenthood clinicians regarding the prolonged side effects she has been struggling with, she has simply been accused of having “pre-existing conditions.”
In 2022, after having stopped testosterone for nearly one year, Pond began to realize that she was also losing her hair. She called Planned Parenthood yet again, and was told that this symptom was “rare” but that there was nothing more they could do.
Since detransitioning, Pond says she has lost all of her “LGBTQ friends,” who subsequently exiled her from their community. She adds that when she tried to speak with her doctor about the side effects from testosterone, she was told that she was being “phobic.”
In Pond’s video on Tiktok, she voiced her frustrations to Planned Parenthood.
“You [Planned Parenthood] just didn’t want to inform me because then I would not have been on it [testosterone] and I guarantee you lots of other people seeking that medication would not be on it if they knew,” Pond says. “So my question is how can it be informed consent if you’re not informed of every possible negative side effect?”
Pond goes on to warn people to speak to a therapist before making a life-altering decision.
“Before doing anything medically to your body, please seek out therapy. I know that some trans people will tell you there is nothing wrong with you, but therapy is amazing. Talk to someone who is unbiased.”
