Abigail Shrier

Abigail Shrier is an American author, writer, and contributor. She is the author of Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters.

Shrier is the daughter of Peter B. Krauser and his wife Sherrie L. Krauser—both judges in Maryland. She went to Columbia University, New York, graduating with an A.B. degree in Philosophy in 2000. She then earned a B.Phil. in Philosophy from the University of Oxford (2000-20002) and a J.D. degree from Yale Law School, where she was a Coker Fellow (2002-2005). 

After finishing her education, Shrier worked in the legal field for a few years. She clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals D.C. Circuit for Judith W. Rogers. She then worked as a lawyer (2006-2008) before beginning to write for The Wall Street Journal and other publications.

Shrier currently serves as a journalist and columnist for the Wall Street Journal and has published multiple opinion pieces on trans issues. She has criticized government-enforced use of gender pronouns and other vocabulary, and criticized trans women's participation in women's athletics. Her byline can also be seen on many other publications including, MSN, Daily Mail, Newsweek, New York Post, Gazeta do Povo, National Review, The Daily Caller, Times of Israel, and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

In 2020, Shrier authored her first book, Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters (published by Regnery Publishing,) in which she expresses support for the unrecognized and contentious medical phenomenon of rapid-onset gender dysphoria, and criticizes gender-affirming care as an approach to treatment for gender dysphoria in young people.

In a July 2020 interview on the Joe Rogan Experience to promote her book, Shrier called wanting to transition a "contagion" and compared it with eating disorders and self-harm. Men's Health described her comments as "invalidat[ing] the lived experience of trans and nonbinary kids and teens". Her remarks sparked calls by Spotify employees for the Rogan podcast episode to be removed from the platform, but the company denied the request. 

The book has proven controversial for its views about transgender people and issues and received strong criticism from many public figures including, Jack Turban, a psychiatrist with specialization in transgender mental health, and journalist Sarah Fonseca (Los Angeles Review of Books.) It was positively reviewed by the journalist Naomi Schaefer Riley in Commentary, by Janice Turner in The Times (London,) by Christina Patterson in The Sunday Times, and by Nick Cater in The Spectator Australia.

The book was named an Economist Book of the Year, and a Times Best Book of 2021 for its UK publication.