Helen MC
10-16-2005, 02:48 AM
In one of today's newspapers here in the UK
£25k sex change for Scot at 69
"GLADYS is the person I had wanted to be since I was seven years old," explains 69-year-old retired antiques dealer Jim Paterson. "I just didn't think it would take me 62 years to achieve it."
For more than four decades the father-of-two lived as a devoted family man, successful businessman and upstanding member of the community in rural Buchlyvie, Stirlingshire.
But shortly before the death of his wife Bette in May 2003, he announced he wanted to live the rest of his life as a woman. In July this year he became the oldest Scot to have a sex change funded by the NHS.
Costing the taxpayer up to £25,000 for drugs, surgery and treatment, it marked the end of a secret double life that saw Paterson dressing up as a woman during trips away from home.
But details of the operation have enraged some critics who believe the NHS should give priority to more clear-cut medical conditions such as hip replacements before offering expensive sex changes.
Remarkably, doctors agreed to refer Paterson for the potentially life-threatening operation so late in life and just a few years after having heart bypass surgery.
"At the age of seven I had a neighbour called Gladys who was two years older than me and she was a lovely wee girl," said Paterson. "I wanted to be that little girl and I chose the name Gladys then. I somehow believed then I would be Gladys one day."
Paterson finally made the decision to have the 'sex reassignment' operation in December 2002 while nursing his wife as she battled against Parkinson's disease.
Four months before her death she gave him her blessing to go ahead with the procedure. After more than a year of taking hormones and treatment at the NHS's Sandyford Clinic in Glasgow, Paterson was referred for an operation at the private Nuffield Hospital in Sussex.
There he underwent the complex surgical procedure to turn him into a woman, paid for by NHS Forth Valley, his local health board.
Later this year Paterson will have breast enlargement surgery, again funded by the NHS.
Asked about justifying the use of scarce NHS resources on her gender-changing treatment when many wait for months in physical pain, and even for life-saving operations, Paterson said: "Only I know what torment I went through for most of my life.
"If this opportunity had been denied me I think I would have ended up in a psychiatric hospital and the cost of that would soon have exceeded the cost of my treatment.
"To me, this procedure was every bit as vital as the heart surgery that saved my life. But I can appreciate the fact that most people would not understand that."
Paterson grew up in the affluent suburb of Milngavie on the north-west fringes of Glasgow, spending his childhood in the shadow of his rugby and football-playing twin Henry.
His father often told him to be more manly, but in secret Paterson would dress up in his older sisters' clothes when the house was empty. As a teenager he would buy bras, French knickers and dresses at jumble sales to wear.
It was not until he met Bette at the Majestic Ballroom in Glasgow that he showed an active interest in the opposite sex. They eventually married in June 1962 and set up an antiques business together.
Paterson's desire to be a woman, however, did not disappear. "I dressed up in private and my wife never saw me as a woman," said Paterson.
"Some men who go away on business have lovers or behave badly in some other way. I'd go to my hotel room, transform myself into Gladys and go for a night out as a woman."
But despite getting the operation free, the surgery has not been without its costs for Paterson, and her two children have had difficulty adjusting.
Friends in the village have also been left stunned, while fellow antiques dealers have greeted her with hostility at recent antiques fairs.
Despite this, Paterson added: "I am finally living the life I believe I was supposed to lead."
But however compelling the reasons for having the operation, the case has raised serious questions about the allocation of limited NHS resources.
Men seeking to have gender surgery on the NHS in Scotland must first be assessed by two psychiatrists to establish there is a genuine psychological need for the operation.
The patient must then live as a woman for at least a year, taking hormones to prepare the body for the change and to demonstrate commitment.
£25k sex change for Scot at 69
"GLADYS is the person I had wanted to be since I was seven years old," explains 69-year-old retired antiques dealer Jim Paterson. "I just didn't think it would take me 62 years to achieve it."
For more than four decades the father-of-two lived as a devoted family man, successful businessman and upstanding member of the community in rural Buchlyvie, Stirlingshire.
But shortly before the death of his wife Bette in May 2003, he announced he wanted to live the rest of his life as a woman. In July this year he became the oldest Scot to have a sex change funded by the NHS.
Costing the taxpayer up to £25,000 for drugs, surgery and treatment, it marked the end of a secret double life that saw Paterson dressing up as a woman during trips away from home.
But details of the operation have enraged some critics who believe the NHS should give priority to more clear-cut medical conditions such as hip replacements before offering expensive sex changes.
Remarkably, doctors agreed to refer Paterson for the potentially life-threatening operation so late in life and just a few years after having heart bypass surgery.
"At the age of seven I had a neighbour called Gladys who was two years older than me and she was a lovely wee girl," said Paterson. "I wanted to be that little girl and I chose the name Gladys then. I somehow believed then I would be Gladys one day."
Paterson finally made the decision to have the 'sex reassignment' operation in December 2002 while nursing his wife as she battled against Parkinson's disease.
Four months before her death she gave him her blessing to go ahead with the procedure. After more than a year of taking hormones and treatment at the NHS's Sandyford Clinic in Glasgow, Paterson was referred for an operation at the private Nuffield Hospital in Sussex.
There he underwent the complex surgical procedure to turn him into a woman, paid for by NHS Forth Valley, his local health board.
Later this year Paterson will have breast enlargement surgery, again funded by the NHS.
Asked about justifying the use of scarce NHS resources on her gender-changing treatment when many wait for months in physical pain, and even for life-saving operations, Paterson said: "Only I know what torment I went through for most of my life.
"If this opportunity had been denied me I think I would have ended up in a psychiatric hospital and the cost of that would soon have exceeded the cost of my treatment.
"To me, this procedure was every bit as vital as the heart surgery that saved my life. But I can appreciate the fact that most people would not understand that."
Paterson grew up in the affluent suburb of Milngavie on the north-west fringes of Glasgow, spending his childhood in the shadow of his rugby and football-playing twin Henry.
His father often told him to be more manly, but in secret Paterson would dress up in his older sisters' clothes when the house was empty. As a teenager he would buy bras, French knickers and dresses at jumble sales to wear.
It was not until he met Bette at the Majestic Ballroom in Glasgow that he showed an active interest in the opposite sex. They eventually married in June 1962 and set up an antiques business together.
Paterson's desire to be a woman, however, did not disappear. "I dressed up in private and my wife never saw me as a woman," said Paterson.
"Some men who go away on business have lovers or behave badly in some other way. I'd go to my hotel room, transform myself into Gladys and go for a night out as a woman."
But despite getting the operation free, the surgery has not been without its costs for Paterson, and her two children have had difficulty adjusting.
Friends in the village have also been left stunned, while fellow antiques dealers have greeted her with hostility at recent antiques fairs.
Despite this, Paterson added: "I am finally living the life I believe I was supposed to lead."
But however compelling the reasons for having the operation, the case has raised serious questions about the allocation of limited NHS resources.
Men seeking to have gender surgery on the NHS in Scotland must first be assessed by two psychiatrists to establish there is a genuine psychological need for the operation.
The patient must then live as a woman for at least a year, taking hormones to prepare the body for the change and to demonstrate commitment.