Sometimes I don't really have any sympathy for people that dude. He seems like a very controlling person. Like, if you don't want to go to therapy, nobody can force you to go to therapy. If you lie to the doctors, there isn't a magical test to call you out on your lie.

There are people out there who have PTSD, BPD etc. who don't have gender dysphoria. And I bet there are trans people who also have those issues too.

Yeah, he sounds like he loves to throw blame around but doesn't want to take any responsibility himself.

While I think it would be great to require more therapy and spousal involvement before medical action is taken, in the end there is no definitive way to test for transgenderism OR lying to therapists. The final approval in the end comes from what the patient tells the doctor and continuing with treatment that provides relief.

Also, I wouldn't be sure this guy isn't trans, he might just have gotten the wrong treatment for his particular case.

Also, I don't quite understand how being attracted to the thought of being female is different from being MtF?

He is definitely a narc and an autogynephile.

'Also, I don't quite understand how being attracted to the thought of being female is different from being MtF?'

Neither do I.

'Also, I don't quite understand how being attracted to the thought of being female is different from being MtF?'

In the few cases I've read/seen where the person de-transitions, it seems like they had some trauma as a child/young person and so, imagining themselves as the other gender is kind of a "safe space," if you will. Like, say if your parents beat you, their son, instead of your sister, you might get it in your head that being a girl would save you from getting beaten. Or likewise, if you were raped as a girl, imagining yourself as a man might be some sort of emotional relief.

But of course, it's not particularly "safe" to be one gender or the other, or even the status of trans is pretty difficult too. So, I can see how there might be a difference between someone imagining themselves as a particular gender and someone who realizes that their body doesn't match their gender identity--regardless if they have past trauma or not.

I sometimes wonder if my partner is autogeniphile to an extent. No childhood trauma or anything there though, but he's never said that he actually identifies as a woman. He's attracted to femininity, loves having female features, and always hated his male body, but he's never suggested that he's a woman trapped in a man's body. He just wants to LOOK more female, not sure he wants to BE female, which may explain why being out socially doesn't matter to him. It's just another confusion to add to the mix! I still consider him as mtf trans though, which is why I'm not sure of the difference. I assume there are lots of different trans spectrums, but they are still trans.

This is all so confusing... my significant other has gone back to embracing his male self - he says he feels happy and satisfied for the most part with his biological body though admits that there is always an underlying feeling that his body is « wrong » (the only way he can explain it) - this feeling isn’t causing him any distress at the present however six months ago he says he was ready to start taking hormones - now he says he’s horrified by that thought and terrified that he will feel that way again one day. I don’t know if this is autogynophilia?