A question about WPATH from someone transitioning under ICATH.

[Neshkav]

As a transman whose legally transitioned through ICATH for nearly three years, I have a bit of a question for those who've successfully begun hormone therapy under WPATH:

-If you're overall content with where life is going, have a job, successfully going stealth, but you indeed plan to get bottom surgery... how do the talks really even go?

In some ways, beyond getting that final approval from talking to a therapist for the note for bottom surgery, I'm curious if among other things they just let you go if they expect to find more problems or if you just keep the sessions with wide distances apart from each other. I've never exactly found detail on what you necessarily talk about after everything goes alright, but yes, there's intent to go along with this particular procedure, or what you necessarily do even after.

[Cindy]

The whole concept of wpath and SOC is to provide the support you deserve, if you have no personal issues you need to address, then the support is to make sure you are mentally and physically OK with the changes and will enjoy your life.

[Neshkav]

The whole concept of wpath and SOC is to provide the support you deserve, if you have no personal issues you need to address, then the support is to make sure you are mentally and physically OK with the changes and will enjoy your life.

The part of the response in bold interests me the most at this point. Or rather the mentally part. I guess because in the past when I was trying to research how to start transitioning, I ran into articles from individuals who said if they didn't have to transition medically to be accepted as their chosen gender, they wouldn't, and I guess when I first read it, I always thought of it as more of the dilemma of transition-and-no-acceptance-or-acceptance-and-no-transition or some other matter. Now I'm curious if there is some other discrepancy in psychological views of the world I'm not meeting eye to eye on with a group of people beyond the idea that transitioning most certainly should require medical monitoring for the concern of safety.

[Cindy]

There are many trans* people who don't want surgery to affirm their gender and of course many who do. The extent of intervention also varies, for some HRT and living as their affirmed gender is all they desire, for others the whole gamete is sort. The role of the professional in this is to help the individual what they want. The need to make sure you know the risks involved, whether you are happy with your decision and that you will not regret your choices. The role should be focussed for each client as everyone is different, has different expectations and needs.