I'm seeing a psychiatrist in a few weeks (finally) to hopefully begin the process of acquiring the necessary clearance needed for top surgery here in Australia. However this psychiatrist is (likely) unfamiliar with the "letters" required by surgeons and what they entail. I am hoping to explain to them the process and essentially outline what the surgeon is looking for concerning "psychiatric clearance" in the form of a letter.
So what is the content of a "top surgery letter"? Does it simply state that the patient has been found to be of sound mind, etc.? Or does it generally need to be specific?
Unfortunately the surgeons here in Australia who perform top surgery DO require a psychiatrist's letter - although never have I seen it mentioned exactly what a letter is supposed to say. I simply want to be able to tell my psychiatrist what it is I will eventually need from her.
Thanks, guys.
I imagine the letter from my psychiatrist was sent along with my referral letter to the surgeons. And from memory it was more for my hysto than for top surgery. Basically it said that I had talked it over with the shrink, understood the procedure and what I was asking, what the risks were, what the limitations of the surgeries were and what it ultimately meant once the procedures were done.
Sorry I'm not of more help. I'm in Qld by the way, way up north where there's no gender clinic. My top surgery was done locally, completely private - out of my pocket with some reimbursements from medicare and my health fund. But my hysto was done completely through the public system, at no cost whatsoever to me - but I had to wait for it over a year...
Good luck mate :)
My therapist just went to the DSM and looked at the requirements and then wrote the letter so that it answer or addressed all the requirements
I think the current term is that you have "gender dysphoria", he needs to say you have this. That he has been seeing you for ____ months (or whatever). That you have no mental issues like schizophrenia, severe depression (begs the question of what if you did would that mean you are not trans). And that you chest reconstruction (the real term) is the next step to your medical transition.
Maybe someone knows if I have missed anything and what it is. I think the standards might be the WPATH. You could look this up online as it is there.
--Jay J
If your surgeons need a letter, the very safest thing you could possibly do is ask your surgeon exactly what the letter needs to say. That way some crucial piece of information isn't missing, going and messing everything up.
Just wondering, but in Australia can you have the sex on your legal documents changed without surgery, or left blank? I know not every country lets you but some do. Supposing you had a blank or male document, you could get Gynecomastia surgery, which is breast removal for men. That's what I had done. My surgeon even knew I was trans, but he processed it through that way since he's got lots of gynecomastia experience.