Susan's Place Transgender Resources

For those who have undergone GRS according to WPATH guidelines,  i would appreciate hearing your experiences in obtaining a second therapist to confirm readiness for surgery, how many visits you had with the second therapist, and any suggestions on therapists with appropriate experiemce.

Thanks

Renee

My therapist recommended me to a psychiatrist  he knew.  I made mt appointment and went to see her.  What I did not know was that my therapist had contacted her and they discussed my treatment.

When I showed up for my appointment, she had already wrote my second letter.  She just wanted to meet me, see what my expectation were with SRS.  An hour later she printed and signed it.

I had a couple online sessions with Dr Graham L Peveller in England, then he wrote the letter and mailed it to me.

Thanks for the replies.  That is kind of what I was hoping.  Others?

Quote from: ReneeT on December 18, 2012, 11:45:35 AM
For those who have undergone GRS according to WPATH guidelines,  i would appreciate hearing your experiences in obtaining a second therapist to confirm readiness for surgery, how many visits you had with the second therapist, and any suggestions on therapists with appropriate experiemce.
Renee

I went to a psychiatrist (Dr Max Chorowski), because they are MD's. I gave him my first letter for surgery. He photocopied it. Then he gave me a simple quiz: Have I ever been depressed, Am I happy right now, etc etc. The whole thing took maybe 15 minutes. I spent maybe 45 minutes at the doctors office, mostly waiting, and then he asked where to mail my letter. I gave him the address and fax info for Dr Brassards office. The next day I got the 2nd letter in the mail, even notarized, and a copy of a fax receipt showing it was sent from the Dr's office to Dr Brassard. That was it. I never saw the psychiatrist ever again. Total cost was around $200 or so, in 2001 dollars. I actually printed out the standards of care and showed the doctor what exactly needed to be in the letter. I did that with the primary therapist.

I think in terms of surgery, that first letter is the most important one. The second is just legalese and nothing more. When I went to have surgery I even asked my endo to create a letter proving that I have had at least 12 months of continuous hormone therapy, just as a CYA. By the time I was heading to my date with destiny I had several years of HRT already but I was a stickler for the standards of care. By the time I finally made it up there, the only thing that mattered was that my surgery was all paid for. I don't even know what they did with the letters, if anything.

I think the letter stuff is overblown. It's not really a big deal. That's just my opinion.