Yaay, replies already
I can try and clear up what I'm trying to get at, spacial... I can get rambling easily when my mind starts to spin, my fault. Maybe the best way would be to invent some examples. I'm not really polling whether anyone would/wouldn't go 'full monty' (thanks sandy
) or their reasons for that decision - but that doesn't mean don't share if you want to. I'm more wondering what might happen if that was the only option on the table.
Like, when I said originally there is latitude in transition at the moment I meant that in lots of ways people transitioning can write up their own timetable to their own comfort zone, and go as far into the process as they want to, choosing which milestones to reach in what order... (and thats before money, family and a thousand other factors get involved) I'm just talking about personal choice.
My question is about what might happen if this got taken away once medical science has gotten to a certain point. It's like.. well it feels sometimes that the medical community on a good day see transition for trans people like almost palliative care... they're like 'ok, so you're male/female mentally and female/male physically. We can't fully fix that so out of what we can do, find where you're comfortable and we'll go from there'. I think, that it's very likely, that if complete physical transition becomes possible that attitude would change to 'ok, we can sort this. If you fulfill our criteria for procedure XX/XY, here's whats going to happen'.
If it did go down like that, there would probably be really strict rules rather than guidelines and only one official path to transition with little to no deviation. Want to have FFS before GCS? Nope, not an option anymore, save up for the cosmetic stuff after the medically necessary one if you want to ever have it and to stay on HRT.
Have really small breasts that are virtually pecs after the right exercises so you don't see the point of an extra surgery? Tough, you need to have the tissue removed as a step toward PT implantation and if you want to be cleared to stay on T.
Have kids you want to grow up a bit more before doing this but would like to start some HRT in the meantime? Sorry, it's all or nothing now.
I realise I'm painting a worst case scenario with that, but I don't think it's too far-fetched. For example, as transitioning hurdles go, some places like the CAMH still require a year of RLT before clearing you for HRT right now, and things used to be far far worse....and rules for transplant patients are brutally strict, like,'these are the rules, if you don't follow them exactly you won't get an organ and you die, your fault' strict. That's not likely to change much, even if organs become easily obtainable - it's just as much about managing the other resources involved and surgical reputation as it is an organ shortage.
I know that there are an awful lot of people that this wouldn't matter to in terms of their own transition... I'm wondering about the effect on those that it would affect. Would someone who identifies as andro be cut off from accessing hormones entirely by new rules? Would an MtF who would be more comfortable going through a gradual transition through maybe ffs then implants then finally eventually GCS be forced into doing it completly the reverse of that to a timescale they have no input in if they wanted to transition at all, wouldn't that make transition unnecessarily hellish?
