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View Full Version : Is it possible to not have to wait years?



jenny_cheerleader
08-01-2005, 03:52 AM
I have been told that there are many steps to being able to have a sex change including years of therapy. Is it possible to just have it done?

crispy
08-01-2005, 04:24 AM
normally 2 years from commencement of counselling.

I'm sure you could find a cowboy surgeon in a third world country, but you'd surely be crazy to make a decision like that without an adequate lead-in period.

Tristen Cox
08-01-2005, 05:30 AM
Nothing good comes easy. Even if you passed with looks and needed no surgery, properly change within a degree of health you need to go through the right channels and course of action. Therapy, HRT, living as a female completely for a trail year to make sure YOU can deal with it and are comfortable with it(not kidding yourself for sexual arousal etc) Then the actual GRS takes quite a while to complete the healing and recovery process. If you need FFS then you are talking the four years to go through the entire process. But that is so you achieve the best results possible and all along you need to check that your body hormone levels are changing as desired and not causing any health issues along the way. It's not as simple as just going for some el cheapo surgery. Trying that could ruin your body for the rest of your life. I would strongly recommend researching the whole process much further before taking any action.

Rachel_740
08-01-2005, 12:32 PM
I assume it's similar in the States to here in the UK.

The legal requirement is for an individual to live in role for 12 months (minimum) before the surgeons are allowed to perform their work of art. If you are doing it through the NHS they require you to live in role for 2 years before they will consider surgery.

During this time you need to see a gender phyciatrist to be diagnosed gender dysphoric. Before the operation can go ahead (but after your 12 months RLT (real life test) has been completed you need a second phyciatric opinion. Unitl these two steps have been fulfilled, the surgeon is still not allowed to operate.

On the plus side, though, this is done for the safety of the medical professionals (so you don't end up suing them) and for your own personal safety - how would you feel if you went in for surgery tomorrow, having never set foot outside en-femme? There is no way you could know your reaction or if you could cope with things.

If you want to go for it, follow the guidelines. They are there for you.

Anne

Julie
08-03-2005, 06:08 AM
Everything you need to know about this can be found here (http://www.hbigda.org/soc.cfm). Mind you, not all practicioners follow the Standards of Care but I'd be leery of those who didn't. I know one TS who had SRS one month after deciding to do it. The minimum time by the SOC would be 15 months. She's been post OP for many years and has no regrets. Some just know what they want and never waiver. I also read one account of a TS who has SRS, lived many years as a woman (and a very beautiful one at that) then decided to change back because he/she was tired of being discriminated against for being female. And, no, the equipment didn't work on the return to male.

Stlalice
08-03-2005, 11:33 AM
Jenny,

There is a VERY good reason for the time period spent in/on things like therapy, HRT, and the Real Life Test - hopefully doing these will prevent you from making a hasty decision to go ahead with SRS when you are not mentally ready to do so. There is a stage in the early days of transition that some refer to as a "pink fog" or "pink mist" when your enthusiasm is at its highest and you just want to do it all - get the SRS and be done with it. For probably 99.9% of us it would be a huge mistake to go that route. The purpose of the counseling is to make ABSOLUTELY sure that your decision to transition is one that is logical and based on fact - not a hasty decision that you may regret later. Face it - the surgery is NOT REVERSIBLE. If you haven't spent the time living 24/7/365 as a woman, learned to deal with the problems and discrimination that women deal with every day then you need to deal with that before the surgery. If you find out afterward that you can't deal with life as a woman then you are truly stuck in a situation with NO satisfacory solution. Bottom line is take your time and do it right - you will be way ahead of the game if you do. Feel free to PM if you want to talk further and hang in there girl. :cool:

ChristineRenee
08-03-2005, 02:32 PM
What's the old saying...good things come to those who wait? This is the big leagues of being transgendered Jenny. Not something you just decide to do on a whim or undertake like you were obtaining a permit or a license. Very serious business here. Standard procedure is to live as a woman for one year prior to undergoing GRS. Very important....IMO. You gotta know not only that this is something you really WANT....but also something that you absolutely NEED! Plus...it isn't just a slice and dice kinda thing either! There is maintenance involved to maintain the change. Also...there is the very definite possibility that even after the surgery, you could STILL end up looking like a man in drag! I have seen this in a documentary where an ex-sailor had it done and still looked like a man posing as a woman. I never saw her smile during the entire interview...it was very obvious that she was hugely disappointed with the results of her surgery. So be advised that a magical transformation may not occur just by removing the male genitals. Again...this is serious stuff we are talking about here.....not to be undertaken lightly or without the total realization of the ultimate consequences!

Anyway...just my 2 cents as a CD/TG.:)

katrina armanda
08-04-2005, 04:52 PM
why !!!!!!!!!!!!! look up HBGIDA and you will understand. you cant change your mined . so therapy and time and hormones and real world test living 100% as a female. gives you chance to change your mined if there was other issue's giulding your reason to transistion. slow but sure.
most happy ts women waited a life time so a few years was nothing to find happiness. I took over five years from therapy to full time pass as a women . cant be more happy. gave me time to ajust.
email me kat