Hi,
I am living in Macau and I had been told by some GPs that there aren't any doctors who are qualified to write a letter for SRS in this small country. I've been living full-time for 2 years..........what should I do?? HELP....!!!
Well the only thing that comes to my mind is to cunsult you (potential)
SRS surgeon and expalin him your situation. If you are opting on Thai
surgeons; they seem to be very flexible and helping, so a letter stating
that you lived 2 years in desired gender and GID diagnosis might be enough.
Quote from: Mari on May 04, 2008, 09:24:13 AM
Well the only thing that comes to my mind is to cunsult you (potential)
SRS surgeon and expalin him your situation. If you are opting on Thai
surgeons; they seem to be very flexible and helping, so a letter stating
that you lived 2 years in desired gender and GID diagnosis might be enough.
I have been thinking about going Thailand to have my surgery too.
I have receipts and documents showing the 2 years i've been seeing my psychiatrist. For GID diagnosis it's what the doctors meant--there are still no qualified psychologist in the country(SRS and stuffs are completely not in existence !!) so I probably won't be able to get any unless I choose to migrate!
The system is not all the tight. Many will write letter's after one visit. Money always plays a part. The world is a big place.
I found myself reading parts of the WPATH SOC yesterday and I noticed a piece of the SRS qualifications that said words to effect that if you have RLE for a significant period of time (2 years or greater?) and an affidavit from a psychiatrist saying that your judgement is not impaired by any significant mental illness, that is sufficient to qualify for the surgery and still meet SOC guidelines.
I live in a small world called the San Francisco mental health care providers community that is more progressive on queer issues than many other places in the world. A number of psychiatrists and therapists I know don't consider GID to be a pathological condition. Our distress is do more to social pressure than gender identity. Many insurance carriers, including Medicare, will not pay for any services related to transsexualism. For billing purposes it's much easier to treat someone for depression or anxiety related to gender dysphoria. Giving an opinion that a person's judgement is "not impaired" is a much stronger position in terms of risk management, a fancy way of saying you'll likely prevail in a lawsuit.
Given the financial and legal constraints I wonder if GID is going to remain a workable diagnosis?
???