“The Defendants permitted Michelle to self-diagnose as transgender and prescribe her own treatment without providing adifferential diagnosis or proposing alternative treatments,”reads the claim filed in Ontario.
A detransitioned Ontario woman who was prescribed testosterone and underwent both a bilateral mastectomy and a hysterectomy during a mental health crisis in which she believed herself to be a man is suing the healthcare providers who allegedly facilitated her medical transition.
Michelle Zacchigna, 34, of Orillia has filed legal action against a total of eight doctors and mental health professionals who treated her during the years that she identified as transgender. Zacchigna alleges that each failed to address her complex mental health needs and instead allowed her to self-diagnose as transgender and undergo irreversible procedures that she now deeply regrets.
Zacchigna endured severe bullying as a child and experienced serious mental health issues throughout her teenage years as a result.
In 2009, at the age of 21 and after years of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and a suicide attempt, she discovered the concept of gender identity on Tumblr, and became convinced that all her problems were because she was transgender.