Article on TS misdiagnosis

[sandcastle]

Interesting article in the Guardian newspaper today.

See link for their web version.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,2085799,00.html

Worth a read from a CD's perspective.

Sandra

[Dixie]

What a quack:drink:, pretty scary stuff.

[Eva Diva]

Not the kind of thing you want to get wrong. :eek:

[MJ]

thats why i say don't rush anything take your time ... as there are many who under went srs / grs and regret doing so .. this is a one way street there is no going back ... for those of us who think we got it bad because we got the wrong body parts if you have doubt try living your life without the twins for the rest of your life ... be very sure this is what you want

what if you find the woman of your dreams and you too are now a woman make sure this is what you want

not to hijack this thread but if you like woman why cut it off ... then again if you like men go for it ... if you are not sure don't do anything... good find sandcastle

thanks

[Cai]

Interesting article, and it definately reminds you to pay attention when you talk to a therapist.
But this bit at the end:

"If we allowed people to be as they wish, whether that is a man being camp and feminine or a woman butch and unadorned," says Claudia, "then the need to chop up healthy bodies to achieve that acceptance would diminish".
As much time as she spent as a woman, I don't think she understands transsexuals. Because as a genetic female in the current American culture, I'm "allowed" to dress any way I like and really not get judged for it, but that's not really good enough. If that makes any sense.

[Joy Carter]

Am I missing something here ? Wasn't up to Claudia to go through with this operation ? I smell money.:mad:

[Cai]

Am I missing something here ? Wasn't up to Claudia to go through with this operation ? I smell money.:mad:

From what I understand, she wanted it at that moment but it wasn't what was right for her in the long-term. Her story about the boyfriend cheating on her and wanting her to get the operation makes it clear that the operation was not what she needed at that time - a different boyfriend was what she needed.

[ToyGirl]

This is so stupid, no one has or does have the right to give you SRS without your consent.

Im a doctor , and you should get your dick cut off..

patient , ummm sure book me in, now about my cough?

[Stacy GG]

Interesting article, and it definately reminds you to pay attention when you talk to a therapist.
But this bit at the end:

As much time as she spent as a woman, I don't think she understands transsexuals. Because as a genetic female in the current American culture, I'm "allowed" to dress any way I like and really not get judged for it, but that's not really good enough. If that makes any sense.

True but the article is about a cross dresser who is gay, not really TS, but got the surgery because of not being being percieved as manlyand pressure from the BF. She didn't feel she was a "real" women even with the surgery.

[Cai]

True but the article is about a cross dresser who is gay, not really TS, but got the surgery because of not being being percieved as manlyand pressure from the BF. She didn't feel she was a "real" women even with the surgery.

True, I understand she's not TS. The point I was trying to make was that she seems to think there's no such thing as a TS - just over-the-top crossdressers, that if we were all allowed to dress the way we want, no one would want SRS. And I can't see that as being true.

[Maggie Kay]

It seems to me that this person does not have a case. Dr. Reid could only go on what she told him. This is one of the interesting parts of TG/TS. We have to tell the doctor how we feel and in return he/she gives permission to proceed. Basically, we determine the outcome. Was Dr. Reid supposed to say, "I think you are lying and I won't give you permission for SRS" Was he told the whole story or was he told just what was necessary to get the SRS letter? How can a physician be responsible for this?

This news story has legs because it is just what the public suspects and wants. I have read stories like this on the conservative fundamentalist Christian web sites. It will be used as evidence to say that TS does not exist or that the treatment should be to counsel us back to our genetic genders. Very disappointing.


MJ's questioned as to why a hetero GM wanting to be a female wants to lose his manhood. I am in that position. I cannot say why but it is true. I find the male organ objectionable and do not want to see it. Sex between women is beautiful to me but hetero sex is disturbing.

[Lisa Scott]

Unfortunately for Dr Russell Reid (Who I know personally) there are allot of people on this particular bandwagon, and have been for some time.

The long and short of it is this...

1) would you voluntarily travel from Scotland to London, and pay to see a gender specialist who has the authority to grant one of the two signatures required for SRS if you didnt believe you were suffering with some level of gender dysphoria.

2) would you be convincing enough as suffering with GID to obtain his signature for treatment on your first meeting without at least having drawn up a transition plan that included hormones, coming out to everyone you knew, and ultimately SRS which you were prepared to fund no matter what it took.

3) would you be convincing enough to obtain the second required signature from another consultant psychologist at Charing cross NHS hospital, who strangely isnt mentioned in the article, and who was so difficult to convince that many of that era chose to take their life as they couldnt get the treatment they so desperately needed.

4) and then willingly sign your own consent to having the surgery, knowing all the associated risks there were with this operation. It was quite a risky operation until more recently with very little expertise particularly in the UK.

then more than 20 years later claim it was a mistake and it was all Dr Ried's fault, and he should now pay you damages.

Can you tell this one winds me up ever so slightly...

Lisa

[Calliope]

"I feel I was railroaded into having a sex change," she says, "when I should have been enabled to live happily in my own skin."

Drop in the bucket compared to the zillions of defective cheapo implants on teenage GGs.

But that don't sell as many papers.

[sandcastle]

Follow-on article at the Guardian today:-
http://www.guardian.co.uk/medicine/story/0,,2088274,00.html

Normally, they provide a balanced view.

There's a couple of useful links there too.

Sandra.

[Siobhan Marie]

Thanks for that Sandra, I smell money too and a dirty great rat.

:hugs: Anna x

[RobertaFermina]

I really anguish about this sometimes.

I do lots of emotional/bioenergetic facilitation, and lots of active listening to people.

Based on my experience, there ARE people so disconnected from their core interests due to emotional trauma, or accumulated emotional/physical/pharmacological (self-) abuse that they are desperate for a sense of hope and direction, and without the faculty to tell medicine from snake-oil.

Investing in these people full culpability/accountability for their choices is cruel and willfully ignorant. They suffer diminished capacity. If they can be diagnosed, part of their treatment might be appointment of a conservator to oversee life-changing or wealth risking contracts.

That is why the regulations for SRS exist, because people who don't really know themselves ALSO apply for it....and it is largely a ONE-WAY-TRIP! The regulations protect both Doctors and Patients. (Though I understand that when you KNOW who you are and what you want they can cause unnecessary delay and other pains in the A**!).


I am so happy for the patients that this doctor has helped and who are supporting him in his good judgement to grant them surgery.

I hope this case leads to education of all interested communities about the hazards of assuming that everyone who has dreadful anguish around their biological gender will benefit from surgically altering it.

:rose: Roberta :rose:

[Eva Diva]

I really anguish about this sometimes.

I do lots of emotional/bioenergetic facilitation, and lots of active listening to people.

Based on my experience, there ARE people so disconnected from their core interests due to emotional trauma, or accumulated emotional/physical/pharmacological (self-) abuse that they are desperate for a sense of hope and direction, and without the faculty to tell medicine from snake-oil.

Investing in these people full culpability/accountability for their choices is cruel and willfully ignorant. They suffer diminished capacity. If they can be diagnosed, part of their treatment might be appointment of a conservator to oversee life-changing or wealth risking contracts.

That is why the regulations for SRS exist, because people who don't really know themselves ALSO apply for it....and it is largely a ONE-WAY-TRIP! The regulations protect both Doctors and Patients. (Though I understand that when you KNOW who you are and what you want they can cause unnecessary delay and other pains in the A**!).


I am so happy for the patients that this doctor has helped and who are supporting him in his good judgement to grant them surgery.

I hope this case leads to education of all interested communities about the hazards of assuming that everyone who has dreadful anguish around their biological gender will benefit from surgically altering it.

:rose: Roberta :rose:



I was going to say basically the same thing, but ended up deleting. Since someone else said it, now I can say "Me too"!

[deniedtoo]

Unfortunately for Dr Russell Reid (Who I know personally) there are allot of people on this particular bandwagon, and have been for some time.

The long and short of it is this...

1) would you voluntarily travel from Scotland to London, and pay to see a gender specialist who has the authority to grant one of the two signatures required for SRS if you didnt believe you were suffering with some level of gender dysphoria.

2) would you be convincing enough as suffering with GID to obtain his signature for treatment on your first meeting without at least having drawn up a transition plan that included hormones, coming out to everyone you knew, and ultimately SRS which you were prepared to fund no matter what it took.

3) would you be convincing enough to obtain the second required signature from another consultant psychologist at Charing cross NHS hospital, who strangely isnt mentioned in the article, and who was so difficult to convince that many of that era chose to take their life as they couldnt get the treatment they so desperately needed.

4) and then willingly sign your own consent to having the surgery, knowing all the associated risks there were with this operation. It was quite a risky operation until more recently with very little expertise particularly in the UK.

then more than 20 years later claim it was a mistake and it was all Dr Ried's fault, and he should now pay you damages.

Can you tell this one winds me up ever so slightly...

Lisa

It's so nice to have the inside track from time to time. That is a very good counter-argument. So many times the press presents only the "conflict, and sensationalism" more than the fact, all in the name of selling the news.

K/K/D

[RobertaFermina]

This is the reason we have trials, so ALL the facts can be presented and interpreted in the light of the law.

I hope justice is done.

I do feel that the greater weight of verification should fall upon the assessing psychiatrist. Though I fear that (typically freudian) psychiatrists specialty in psychoanalysis and prescribing pills leaves them less qualified to assess and distinguish between dysphorias compared to a skilled practicing (typically jungian) psychologist. My prejudice and opinion.

:rose: Roberta :rose:

[MJ]

Kehleyr

thank you for your information i stand corrected ..
the article was interesting but i still can't believe that it is this easy to change ones gender like that , and i too smell money ... it's the old you did this to me misdiagnosis thing ... but at the same time if there is any doubt don't do it .. surgeons often say just before you go under are you sure you won't change your mind ?.. there is always an out ..it just makes it harder for those of us who want the surgery to get it

[Eva Diva]

Kehleyr

thank you for your information i stand corrected ..
the article was interesting but i still can't believe that it is this easy to change ones gender like that , and i too smell money ... it's the old you did this to me misdiagnosis thing ... but at the same time if there is any doubt don't do it .. surgeons often say just before you go under are you sure you won't change your mind ?.. there is always an out ..it just makes it harder for those of us who want the surgery to get it



I have to idea what happened in this case, but doctors have been known to do some nutty things. The whole lobotomy craze was particularly nasty, and they did those at the drop of a hat.

It shouldn't be harder for those of you who want surgery, it should just be hard. Not for the sake of making your life miserable, but in order to weed out the inappropriate applicants.

[Felix]

n excellent article this man is famous in the UK he has made many others happy but because of a few rash decisions he is now under the critiques eyes. I have heard of quite a few ppl who regret having gone down the road of change too quickly. I think time should be taken and then maybe these mistakes would be less common. It can be so easy to get carried along by events and then ya left like the ppl in the article with regrets and maybe ruined lives. I really feel for these ppl :hugs::hugs: xx Felix