Stuck in my thoughts.

[agent_dani]

I keep thinking of the therapist stating "the risks of losing sensation and having complications is not a valid concern in this day. It was a problem with older SRS procedures and surgeons. The modern ones have eliminated that risk" and the endocrinologists asserting "if you don't need SRS then you aren't trans and taking HRT has to be bad for you."

it wasn't a one-time thing, it was hours of interrogation about my feelings about surgery every month for 4 years, until I finally gave in to their demands. All of it lies hiding the actual risks.

Comments

[agent_dani]

They were entirely good with that if you were "one of the good ones who otherwise did it the right way." In some ways this got worse than it had ever been as backlash to access improving in some areas.

I still wonder if forcing my choice of surgeon was about ensuring I had a crap result as punishment for not fitting their standards.

[cmcmck]

I chose my counsellor, I chose my pshrink and I chose my surgeon- not sure if that counted as 'the right way'. I certainly didn't do gatekeepers!

[agent_dani]

That's damn lucky! When I was doing it there were two psychs and two endos which were the total of who would write letters and prescribe HRT for at least a 200 mile radius. All were gatekeepers so my choice was deal with that or not transition. They knew it and directly said, "you need us, we don't need you. If you don't want to deal with this then you can deal with not having medical transition."

They were happy to write referrals for other HRT Drs, even in other states, and for other surgeons, including the first 3 I asked for, but only for others clients. For me they weren't because they decided I had it "too easy" - that I got recruited by top IT firms rather than being fired and having to struggle with multiple part-time jobs, etc.