Emma Barnett says she felt mugged, robbed' after perimenopause at 38

"it was the first time in my life I haven't really wanted to be a woman it's the first time I've thought, I'd really quite like to be a bloke. She said perimenopause made her feel as though she had lost her identity, and that she was still waiting to come back to who she was before. Speaking to guest Kate Thornton, she said: I do feel there has been a theft."

"Concluding the episode, Barnett said she hoped the normalisation which we both said needs to happen around perimenopause and this degradation of one's hormones that happens from the age of 30s right through in women can move into common parlance. Perimenopause is the transitional period leading up to menopause, where ovaries gradually produce less oestrogen, causing symptoms such as irregular periods and hot flushes."

Emma Barnett experienced perimenopause at 38 and felt robbed of her identity, with a temporary loss of desire to be a woman and a wish to be male. She described the change as a theft and expressed that there is no emergency number to call when identity feels stolen. Normalisation of perimenopause and awareness of hormonal degradation from the 30s onward are urged. Perimenopause reduces ovarian oestrogen, causing irregular periods and hot flushes; menopause occurs after 12 consecutive months without periods. Rising awareness has coincided with commercial exploitation and calls for national education and reliable information.

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