Alternatives Pregnancy Center in Sacramento does not advertise detransition care on its website. But the pro-life clinic offers a range of women’s health services, including hormone treatment, and executive director Heidi Matzke says the center aims to provide care guided by its Christian faith.
Matzke said prayer has shaped the organization’s work since she took over. When she first entered the role, she recalled feeling unprepared and believing she needed to pray and fast for guidance.
Alternatives eventually expanded into a full-service women’s health clinic. Soon after, Matzke was invited to speak briefly at a church. She said she felt led to focus only on the clinic’s health services, rather than its work with unplanned pregnancies.
Although the congregation listened politely, Matzke left feeling discouraged. Then, between services, a person named Jessica Rose approached her.
Rose told Matzke she was biologically female and had begun seeking to detransition after a Christian conversion. She said her doctors had stopped supporting her and she had nowhere to turn for care.
Rose had been praying that morning for access to women’s medical care, Matzke said. She described the encounter as an answer to that prayer.
Rose said doctors had been prepared to prescribe hormones and perform surgery to remove her breasts after a brief consultation. Matzke’s clinic, she said, offered a different kind of support.
The encounter helped broaden Matzke’s view of the clinic’s role. She said she wants it to serve women seeking care and support in keeping with the center’s Christian beliefs.
