Amy Peterson, 29, of Clinton, Iowa, has been arrested on spousal abuse charges for forcing her husband to take estrogen, a female sex hormone.
Police report that Peterson began giving her husband, a factory worker by trade, daily estrogen-based hormone supplements in his food after he lost his job in 2017. She told authorities that she gave her husband the estrogen without his knowledge in an attempt to feminize him. “If he’s home and I have to work, he can cook for himself,” she said. “He can do the laundry, the cleaning. He has to do the dishes. And, yes, I thought he should have to look pretty while he’s doing all that. That’s what’s expected of a wife, right?”
Peterson’s husband, Ryan Peterson, told police that he had no idea his wife was giving him the hormone and that he’d gained weight, lost muscle mass, and developed breasts over the last four years. “I started to realize that I was feeling more feminine than I ever had before. I felt like I was turning into a woman, and it scared me.” Ryan said. “I didn’t say anything at first because I was afraid she’d divorce me. Now I know she’s the one who had been doing this to me. She’s not the woman I fell in love with, and I want my life back.”
In addition to secretly feminizing her husband, Peterson is also accused of forcing him to live as a woman for the past two years. “Amy told me we couldn’t afford to see a doctor and that I had to think of a way to fix the problem myself,” said Ryan. “I got a job as a sales assistant at a women’s clothing store, and she made me wear a dress and makeup every day. With the way my body was changing, I started to think maybe I could be a woman. I even got used to people calling me ‘she’ and presenting myself in a feminine manner. One time, an old buddy from the factory approached me at the mall. I was terrified, but he didn’t recognize me. He was trying to ask me out.”
The Petersons were married in 2014, but Amy told authorities she’d been planning to feminize her husband since they’d met in high school. “I was always attracted to women. I just never had the guts to tell Ryan, and I thought I might be able to change him,” she said. “I wanted to help him be more sensitive and nurturing, but he just kept working and working and didn’t change at all. When the layoffs happened, I saw my chance. I thought I could give him a little push in the right direction to get him there. I just didn’t realize how far I was going.”
After she was arrested, Amy Peterson underwent a psychiatric evaluation and told authorities she doesn’t regret what she’s done. “I just wanted him to be more like me, more sensitive and nurturing. And have you seen his body now? Ryan is gorgeous. I’m not sorry at all.”
For his part, Ryan is unsure what the future holds for him. “I hate what Amy did to me, and I’m not gay or transgendered or anything like that, but I’m starting to wonder if I should just go with the flow. I’m not sure I could go back to living as a man. I’d need surgery to fix everything, and the doctors have said some of the changes are permanent. So, is it better to be an effeminate man or a woman? I don’t know. I just want to be happy.”
Amy Peterson is currently awaiting trial and faces up to three years in prison if convicted.