Transformed by Faith: Laura Perry Smalts’ Journey from Transgenderism to Embracing God’s Design

[Focus on the Family]

Although Laura Perry Smalts grew up in a Christian home, she struggled with the message of the gospel. “I never really understood what it meant to ask Jesus into my heart,” Laura recalls, highlighting the spiritual confusion that clouded much of her early life.

Her confusion was fueled by a strained relationship with her mother. She believed what she now knows was a lie—that her mother favored boys. Laura felt like she had a closer relationship with her father, so she believed she identified with him. This only fueled her discontentment and confusion.

“I just didn’t like being a girl,” Laura admits.

It’s normal for some little girls to be tomboys, but for Laura, that label just added to her feelings of not fitting in. To her young mind, “Tomboy” was a label that said, she wasn’t a boy. But, she thought, am I a different kind of girl?

One flip remark sounded like a life sentence to 14 year old Laura.​

and so at that time, I was not thinking that I was going to transition and live as male. So even though I didn’t like being female, I still wanted to be pregnant and have kids one day.”

However, her adolescent years were punctuated with chronic, excruciating pain. It was at that time a doctor flippantly said to her, “somebody’s gonna have a hard time getting pregnant.”

What 14 year old Laura heard, was she was never going to get pregnant. It was then that she began to believe the lies whispered into her heart. Lies that said no man was ever going to want her. She would never get married. She would never have a normal life.

At that point, Laura blamed God for a lot of her problems. As she explains, “I wanted nothing to do with Christians, with the church. I wanted to sin in every way possible. I wanted to hurt my parents as much as I could. I was just full of anger and bitterness. And, you know, I look back and I don’t know how I got to that point.”

Even though Laura says her childhood was not as traumatic as a lot of people, nonetheless, she was very bitter. Looking back on her path, Laura sees her own struggles reflected in the Bible, especially in Hebrews 12:14-15 where it gently reminds us: “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no ‘root of bitterness’ springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.”

“And this is exactly what happened to me.”

Laura goes on to explain, “It’s what I’ve seen in so many others. Romans 1, talks about the same thing how God has revealed himself to every man, and we know and in Romans 1, there’s this whole progression: people being given over to lust and then unnatural lust, and then eventually to a mind that completely rejects the truth.”

During those tough times of doubt and confusion, Laura’s experiences really resonated with the warnings in Romans 1, which talks about how easy it is to drift away from the truth.

“And so I look back and I think so much of my problem was that I was so full of anger and bitterness that it just festered over the years that I never dealt with so much, and refusing to forgive.” Laura, realized that she was feeling like she got the short end of the stick in life with this “tomboy thing.” It wasn’t what she wanted. She just felt like she didn’t fit in. Not with the boys. Not with the girls.

But God didn’t leave her there.

A Radical Transformation in Christ​

Laura’s radical transformation began when she encountered the love of Christ in a way she had never experienced before. “I remember telling God, I would never serve him again… But God had other plans,” she recounts, acknowledging the divine intervention that changed the course of her life.

Through a series of events and encounters with Christians who showed her the true love of God, Laura began to see herself through the lens of her Creator, rather than the distorted mirror of the world.

Embracing God’s Design​

Today, after years of cross-sex hormone therapy, two major so-called gender-affirming surgeries, Laura Perry Smalts is a strong testament to the power of faith and the truth of the gospel.

She speaks openly about the dangers of transgender ideology and the importance of a Christian worldview in understanding our true identity.

“God has created our entire bodies… ultimately, they’re about the glory of God,” she asserts, emphasizing the beauty and purpose found in embracing our God-given design.

Laura’s journey from transgenderism to transformation is a powerful reminder that our identity is found not in the changing tides of culture, but in the unchanging truth of God’s Word.

Her story encourages us to seek the Lord in all things, trust in His design for our lives in every way. Perhaps most of all, to find our true identity in Christ. Laura Perry Smalts’ story is not just a personal testimony; it’s a call to the church to minister with compassion, understanding, and truth to those struggling with gender identity. Her journey reminds us that real transformation is possible through faith in Christ, and that embracing God’s design leads to true freedom and joy.




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