A man who lived as a woman for eight years has co-authored a new book, “Embracing God’s Design,” to raise awareness about “the spiritual and psychological crisis behind transgender identity,” recounting his experience detransitioning 40 years ago and finding a new life focused on faith in Jesus.
For context, in a June 13, 2025, interview with Fox News Digital, Walt Heyer, an 84-year-old man who formerly lived as a woman, opened up about how his experiences as part of the transgender community negatively affected his life. In addition, Dr. Jennifer Bauwens, the co-author with Heyer of the book “Embracing God’s Design,” shared details of how “gender-affirming care” can negatively impact a person’s physical and mental health.
Speaking to Fox News Digital, Dr. Bauwens said that many people who experience gender dysphoria have a history of adverse childhood experiences, citing her years of work as a trauma therapist and researcher. Dr. Bauwens explained, “When you look at the data, around half of those who identify as transgender also report some type of abuse, whether it be emotional, psychological, physical, [or] sexual abuse.
Continuing, Dr. Bauwens argued that so-called “gender-affirming care” is “not only malpractice,” but also “borderline criminal,” pointing to instances where doctors have treated “someone with a surgical procedure who clearly matches the profile of someone who’s had really severe abuse.”
Furthermore, Bauwens added, “Some of the reasons that are used to quickly get people ‘gender-affirming care,’ such as suicidality, that’s a very common experience of someone who’s had abuse. Self-harm is a very common experience of somebody who’s abused.”
In addition, Walt Heyer opened up about his experiences as a member of the transgender community in the interview, explaining that he was “being cross-dressed by my grandma” at a young age and receiving affirmation of his perceived identity as a female. Heyer added that his grandmother “made me a purple chiffon evening dress and that was a secret for about two-and-a-half years.”
Adding to his story, Heyer said that when his parents found the purple dress,
“They realized grandma had been cross-dressing me, and I was enjoying it as a four or five, six-year-old boy, then the heavy discipline started with my father. Then his adopted teenage brother sexually molested me. So that’s where the trauma comes in.” Heyer went on to explain that after years of identifying as female, he underwent sex change surgery and lived as “Laura Jensen” for eight years before transitioning and starting a ministry called Sex Change Regret.
Heyer said that his mission was to help others avoid going down the path that he took due to unaddressed trauma, saying, “I’ve worked with thousands of people over the last 20 years. And when I work with them, I always ask them, ‘What caused you to not like who you are?'” Heyer added, “When we dive into this discussion, they peel back the issues, and we look back, and we find out that they were sexually abused and emotionally abused, physically abused. They were abandoned. They were in foster care.”
Watch Heyer weigh in on the transgender movement:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video