Detransitioner Oli London Credits Jesus, Church With Stopping Trans Surgeries: 'I Was…Very Lost'

Social media influencer Oli London said rediscovering faith helped convince him to detransition, stop life-altering gender reassignment surgeries, and turn his life around.

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London, a longtime internet creator, said he was initially unsure if he’d share his story. Despite being more than open in the past, he originally wasn’t equipped with how to describe the detransition process.

His Decision to Open Up

But the drive to open up arose once London began researching and saw children being swept into the ever-complex gender chaos.

“When I saw these kids in America … they have been through horrendous trauma from having these surgeries and hormones,” he said, discussing some of the young de-transitioners making headlines. “I looked at these girls, and I thought, ‘These are 18-year-olds and they are speaking openly about this on the internet, and they are getting tremendous hate and backlash.'”

London continued, “Not only have they been abused and betrayed by the adults [who] pushed them into transition, but they have also now been double victimized because now they’re getting all this abuse and hate.”

He called it “heartbreaking” to see de-transitioners explain how they now realize they were pushed into life-altering surgeries and hormones.

Watch London discuss these topics and tell his story:

All of this led him to speak out to help others open up about similar experiences.

Unworried about the flack and prepared to contend with online trolls, speaking candidly doesn’t phase London. That said, he’s aware of certain forces in the debate bent on stopping detransitioners and critics from sharing their stories.

“These people want to silence these people because they are scared of their narrative falling apart,” London said. “They are scared of the truth coming, because they like to present [it] as a dream; it’s a fantasy — ‘You change your gender, you are automatically happy for the rest of your life,’ which is simply not the case.”

Addicted to Surgeries

London’s own experience included a litany of surgeries and procedures aimed at helping him transition from male to female, yet the happiness promised by others didn’t seem to emerge.

“When I became an adult, I actually moved to South Korea, and South Korea is very famous for plastic surgery,” he said. “[I thought], ‘Maybe this is a chance for me to start and change who I am, to erase the old me and to try and replace me with a completely new identity.'”

London said he soon became addicted to surgeries, likening it to a form of self-harming.

“I’ve had my jawbone shaved, I’ve had six nose surgeries,” he said. “With my jaw, I couldn’t speak for two weeks, I couldn’t eat, I had to eat liquid, and it was very, very difficult.”

Despite feeling great initially, he said he “still wasn’t happy” and, over time, started to question his decisions. It wasn’t until London found faith that things started to turn around.

“Part of my detransition was … rediscovering faith,” he said, noting he went to church as a young child but by high school was no longer devout — until he decided to detransition. “I really rediscovered my faith journey, because I needed some guidance in my life. I was … very lost, and this really helped me.”

London, who went to China, Turkey, and America, among other countries for surgeries, could have continued on the path to more invasive surgeries, but realized his family members were beside themselves and he was physically at risk.

“It was so traumatic for my family,” he said.

Guilt Sparks Search For Meaning

The guilt is what eventually drove him to church, something he credits with helping turn his life around.

“Thankfully, I started going to church regularly, and I was able to realize what I was doing and how harmful it was,” he said. “And able to reverse that.”

London said he’s grateful for the church and the “teachings of Jesus,” and said he had to come to accept himself for who God made him to be.

“No matter how we look, how we identify, we are God’s creatures,” he said. “So, we need to learn to accept that.”

London, who is preparing for the Aug. 1 release of his book, “Gender Madness: One Man’s Devastating Struggle with Woke Ideology and His Battle to Protect Children,” praised the Christians he encountered along the way, calling them the “most kind, inclusive, incredible, non-judgmental community.”

“They really are so embracing of anyone,” London said. “No matter what you’ve been through, we all sin … but … it’s about recognizing that, dealing with it, and then trying to learn from that experience in order to help others.”

Letting Go of the Past

He said his own experience has helped him let go of some of his guilt and past struggles, including the emotional turmoil he put his family through during all of his surgeries.

“I have to learn to live with that, because I can’t take it back,” he said. “It’s happened. But I can learn from that and I can use that to try and help others.”

London worries many young people will go too far down the path before coming to the same conclusion, fearing they will end up “mutilated” and “struggling for the rest of their lives with physical and mental health complications,” especially in light of society’s current affirmation-only rhetoric.

With brands and entertainment companies increasingly jumping on the bandwagon, he’s deeply concerned.

“I was indoctrinated to some extent … everybody around me was saying, ‘The reason you are not happy, the reason you’re doing all these surgeries is because you’re meant to be trans woman,'” London said. “So, I underwent facial feminization. I basically had my face reconstructed to make it feminine.”

He continued, “And that included having my eyebrow bone shaved, my forehead, bones, my hairline lowered, and eye lift. … I did 11 surgeries in one day.”

Watch for London’s full story.