Detransitioner files lawsuit against medical providers alleging negligence, ignored mental health

An Ontario woman who underwent hormonal and surgical treatments to identify as a man before transitioning back to her biological sex has filed a lawsuit in Canada against healthcare providers for their role in her transition.

Michelle Zacchigna, 34, said Monday that she started legal action in November 2022 against the eight doctors and mental health experts who treated her while she identified as a man.

Less than a year after coming out as transgender at 21, Zacchigna said she was prescribed testosterone that permanently altered her voice and appearance. She was later given a bilateral mastectomy, followed by a hysterectomy covered by insurance. She detransitioned in November 2020, at 32.

"Each step involved irreversible alterations to my body and came with serious risks yet all were met with little challenge despite my long-standing history of mental health struggles and no indication of gender-related distress in childhood or adolescence," Zacchigna said in a video last month asking for donations for her legal fees. 

"I am alleging that this lack of inquiry is a failure of due diligence amounting to medical negligence towards a vulnerable patient," she also said.

Zacchigna had been diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum as well as having ADHD, PTSD and depression years after her transition but before she went back to identifying with her biological sex, she wrote on the Gender Dysphoria Alliance website.

"I’m very worried that the one-size-fits-all approach to medical transition will only put more vulnerable people through medical trauma, and the trans community that once supported me for ten years has made it clear that they don’t care about collateral damage," she also said.