GRS
Ciaran Crilly
surgery and do not adhere to the Harry Benjamin criteria but simply seek to
ensure that the patient is mentally stable?
Thank you
Nicole Hamilton
> Can anyone provide a list of surgeons who provide gender-reassignment
I think Butcher Brown is in jail.
Seriously, as you begin transition, the SOC do look to be pretty unfair and
rigid. You know what you want, why shouldn't you get it? Isn't your money
as good as anyone's?
But the thing is that satisfying the SOC today is easier than you may
imagine. I don't know anyone who's gone all the way through to SRS in the
last few years who hasn't found that merely as a part of doing what you
need to do for yourself, that you do automatically satisfy the SOC.
Getting those two surgery letters turns out to be a total non-event. And
what you need to realize is that the SOC is not as rigidly constructed as
you may be thinking.
What I think is often a reason people may want to circumvent the SOC is
because they're objecting to the one-year role test. For a lot of us, I
think it's simple fear. We wonder if maybe we can get our bodies changed
but not actually have to tell anyone we're female. But that's missing out
on one of the best parts, namely just being =accepted= as female, to say
nothing of the fact it's pretty half-baked: I mean, you =are= going to
have to tell people.
The other reason is objection to having to "wait" a year. And that's kind
of sad because I'll tell you: transition is just an absolutely wonderful
rollercoaster experience and like all rollercoasters, you don't board just
to get to the end, it's also about enjoying the ride along the way. I
found I was more alive during transition than I'd ever been in my whole
life. Transition is a time when you learn more about yourself and what it
means to be male or female than most people ever figure out. It was a time
when I realized for the first time that being transsexual is not some
horrible curse but a special gift. Transition is a time to be savored,
every day. Don't rush through it so fast you don't have time to enjoy it.
Nicki
Gwendolyn Ann Smith
<ciaran...@virgin.net> wrote:
> Can anyone provide a list of surgeons who provide gender-reassignment
> surgery and do not adhere to the Harry Benjamin criteria but simply seek to
> ensure that the patient is mentally stable?
I'll avoid using one of my few remaining "me too!" post allowances in
regard to Ms. Hamilton's follow-up, as it is only May, and there are
still 7 months left in the year.
Looks like I'm heading back into opinion land. Don't forget to heare
plenty of sunscreen and a pith helmet.
I am going to make an assumption here that you have not followed the
HBIGDA (whew!) Standards of Care, and do not intend to. My question
back (you'll hate this one) is "why?"
(assuming MTF) Are you planning on living in a male role, having your
surgery, letting it solve all your problems, and stepping off the table
living as a perfect female?
I hate to tell you, but life just doesn't work that way.
Now, I'm not a stickler to the SOCs - sometimes they are a hinderance
in some (rare) cases, and -- as they are guidelines, not rules -- they
can be bent to an extent. Most of the time, however, the need to live
in role for a certain period is more than a requirement: it's just a
really, really good idea.
I've been living in role for just over four-and-a-half years now. If I
had been able to circumvent this whole process and go around the SOCs,
and just get chopped and channeled so much earlier, I *honestly* do not
think I would be alive today. Frankly -- even if I though I was pretty
ready -- I was in no way prepared for it.
If you remember anything, remember this: a vagina doesn't make you a
woman.
You may hate that penis. That's understandable, but it doesn't define
you -- you define you.
So, to answer your original query, no I can't provide such a list.
Most of the docs require mental stability, which is determined by your
therapist, who does so via (amongst other things) the HBIGDA Standards
of Care. As a general rule, the docs who are not requiring them (such
as the now-incarcerated Dr. Brown) are not there to ensure anythign
other than that their wallet gets fatter.
Cheers,
Gwen "fire and brimstone" Smith
--
. .
/\\//\ Gwendolyn Ann Smith * Area Advisor, TCF
> () < Board Member, AEGIS * Webmistress, TransBay
\/()\/ Webmistress, SCCatl * Webmistress, gender.org
"I want this to be a harmony of voices" - Lauren D. Wilson
**Posts may not reflect the views of the above organizations
~mme
in soc.support.transgendered:
> But the thing is that satisfying the SOC today is easier than you may
> imagine. I don't know anyone who's gone all the way through to SRS in the
> last few years who hasn't found that merely as a part of doing what you
> need to do for yourself, that you do automatically satisfy the SOC.
hear, hear. and in that sense, it ain't about the soc at all.
transexuals simply have certain traits in common. that's all it says.
--
'trisha
Catherine Ferris
> Can anyone provide a list of surgeons who provide gender-reassignment
> surgery and do not adhere to the Harry Benjamin criteria but simply seek to
> ensure that the patient is mentally stable?
>
> Thank you
Ciaran,
Just to echo what has been said by others, and add a couple of new
thoughts...
You only get one real chance at surgery. Get it wrong and the results
are bad, corrective surgery is expensive and not very effective. The
best surgeons for GRS are in great demand, and they all follow the SOC.
Given your one real chance of getting it right would you risk just
anybody performing your surgery ? I know I didn't, I wanted the best,
and they wanted me to go through the SOC before surgery, so I did.
In additions, how do you assess a persons mental stability. You often
can't decide they are stable in a single session (but you can often see
they are unstable). Someone needs to assess you over a long period of
time and check that your commitment is total and unwavering. What's
important is not that you feel it's correct to change your sex, but that
you can prove it to someone. That's what the SOC is about.
Going through the SOC isn't a struggle if it's done correctly and you
understand that it's as much for your protection as it is for everyone
elses. Some people don't like the process, some groups make it difficult
for those going though it. Overall I think the concept is valid, usefull
and necessary. That's not to say it always correct, but you've got to
start from somewhere.
As the others posters have asked, 'why' do you want to do it this way ?
-- Kate
Catherine Ferris ka...@tycho.demon.co.uk
'This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow as the night the day
Thou canst not then be false to any man.' -- Hamlet