Coverage Denied
Trans Utahn fights SelectHealth
By Eric S. Peterson
Posted // October 19,2011
http://www.cityweekly.net/utah/article-77-14869-coverage-denied.htmlThe gender reassignment surgery that Sophia Hawes underwent in May was a life-changing experience. She finally felt complete after years of being caught between identities since she'd started cross-dressing at age 16. After decades of doubt and confusion, lies to herself and her loved ones, a failed marriage and three failed suicide attempts, for the 46-year-old Hawes, waking up from the sex-reassignment surgery was like being reborn.
"The minute I woke up from surgery, I knew everything was right," Hawes says. "Everything was perfect." Finally being able to own her female identity—body and soul—Hawes considered the procedure she undertook by a renowned surgeon in Thailand to be a life-saving operation. Her health insurance didn't see the operation that way, however, denying any coverage of the procedure for which she paid $16,000 out of pocket.
