Susan's Place Transgender Resources

"Sterilization"

What does this word do to you? Does it conjure up thoughts of eugenics and Nazi Germany?
Most of us have heard the word "mutilation" bandied about in regard to genital surgeries and dismiss it out of hand.
Certainly we all acknowledge that an orchiectomy or oopherectomy will result in being sterile.
Somehow though the word "sterilization" causes a chill over the heart.

Do you find this to be true?

imho its simple meaning is an inability to reproduce via "normal" biological means, the other meaning that is associated with it depends on the context (from sterilization as result of long term hrt, to state sponsored acts, to voluntary sterilization via birth control by way of surgical means)

(how sterile was that?)

I came to terms with that word long ago when I started to despise having glands outside my body.  It is a stupid design if you ask me.  All the rest of our critical glands are safely inside the body.  One more thing I envied women about.

The hose was bad enough, but having those stupid balls in the way and being so tender was really hard to take.

When I had my orchi, the doctor and I discussed my reproductive options.  Given my age and the fact I already had two children I didn't feel the need to preserve anything, I just wanted them gone.

Post orchi I felt a huge relief.  Calling myself sterilized/castrated/eunuch/*fixed* had no hold over me.  Many women become sterilized as a result of hysterectomy and most women accept that as part of being a woman.  My feelings were similar.  Of course it wasn't a hysterectomy, but calling it castration really didn't apply to me since I am a woman.

-Sandy

Quote from: Sandy on August 13, 2009, 08:43:13 AM
I came to terms with that word long ago when I started to despise having glands outside my body.  It is a stupid design if you ask me. 

Lol You sound like my mom commenting on the male anatomy.  :laugh:

Quote"Sterilization"

What does this word do to you? Does it conjure up thoughts of eugenics and Nazi Germany?

OK, I might be a bit odd, but the word "sterilisation" does cause an emotional/mental response, but a comfortable, safe one, because it makes me think of medical equipment sterilisation, as in, removing bacteria etc. to make it safe for future use and prevent cross-contamination and the spread of disease.

Sorry, don't know if I'm completely off-track there, but that's my immediate response to "sterilisation" (after that I think of high school and one of my friends lecturing us about how sitting on the hard cold gym floor for assemblies would make us all sterile ::) :laugh:).

Renate
I dont like the tone and subject of what you have asked.

Quote from: Krissy_Australia on August 13, 2009, 09:01:45 AM
Renate
I dont like the tone and subject of what you have asked.

why? Sounds as though a word bothers her and she wants to see if others feel the same. No sinister reason there.

Mm, I think Renate's raising a good question. Certainly it's not exactly an uplifting topic, the thought of being sterile, but it does inspire different reactions in different people, much the same as "miscarriage" does (my mum had a miscarriage after me, but wasn't too upset because it was very early, but then other people will feel differently if they've had experience of miscarriages). I don't think she's meaning to upset or offend, I think she's just genuinely curious about how we all view the word "sterilisation", and its various connotations. As I said, being (as yet) unconcerned about my eggs (when I can accept that I actually have eggs), I view "sterilisation" more as a cleansing, disease-preventing measure for medical/surgical equipment rather than the loss of the ability to have children, but other people will obviously have a different take on that. I think that's all she's asking.

I don't see the big deal at all. Sterilization has the same impact on me as bird, brush, toothpaste or tissue...it doesn't lol. It's just a word.

The word doesn't bother me but it does bring to mind violence. To me anyway. yes, it conjures up eugenics and Nazis. I put that it's just a word though because I actually cherish the thought of being sterilized.

The word obviously has negative connotations, but in the TG context it is inarguably accurate: once an MTF and FTM has certain procedures done, she or he is rendered unable to reproduce (the proper reproductive definition of "sterile").

On the other hand, "mutilation" is not used accurately at all. The word originates from a latin word meaning to "maim" (cause severe, often deadly physical damage); the word's proper definition (pretty much the noun version of "to maim") cannot at all be related to TS surgeries, which very obviously do not cause near-mortal wounds. 

I was rendered sterilized or unaffective when I had my vasectomy.  I should have done it sooner.

Sarah L.

Quote from: sneakersjay on August 13, 2009, 11:35:48 AM
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Jay, whose pets are all sterilized...

I don't know how to break it to ya, guy, but if that is the way you sterilize your pets, it might explain why they don't stick around too long...  :D

One of my cats has a thing for wanting to sit in the bottom rack of the dishwasher.  What *are* they thinking?

-Sandy(though they probably think the same of *us*)

Quote from: sneakersjay on August 13, 2009, 11:35:48 AM
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Noooo!!  Take kitty out of the autoclave!!  :-\

Personally, sterilization is just another word.  It has several meanings, from the eugenics/Nazi's, to making medical devices safe and clean, or in my case (post-Orchi), no longer able to have children.  That's fine with me, doesn't hurt me one bit.  At least I know I won't be adding to the problem of overpopulation in this lifetime.  :laugh:

Sterilization, the word itself, brings out a very powerful response in me when I stop to think about it. It's a tight, burning feeling for certain, but one of joy rather than one of fear. I don't think of nazis at all, I think of being cleansed of the ability to procreate.

Even if I were a female, and wanted children, I wouldn't want to reproduce - I have so many terrible genetic traits that I'd never in a million years want to pass them on. So you could stay that I find sterilization to be a highly sought after thing.

Quote from: Renate on August 13, 2009, 08:22:05 AM
"Sterilization"
Certainly we all acknowledge that an orchiectomy or oopherectomy will result in being sterile.
Somehow though the word "sterilization" causes a chill over the heart.

Do you find this to be true?

Not for me, but many seem to feel it is incredibly drastic. There are too many people anyway. I see it as simply a technical term.

SilverFang

Just another word to me. . .Doesn't even conjure thoughts of eugenics and Nazi Germany for me. On the other hand. . .

Quote from: William on August 13, 2009, 09:11:00 AM
Mm, I think Renate's raising a good question. Certainly it's not exactly an uplifting topic, the thought of being sterile, but it does inspire different reactions in different people, much the same as "miscarriage" does (my mum had a miscarriage after me, but wasn't too upset because it was very early, but then other people will feel differently if they've had experience of miscarriages). I don't think she's meaning to upset or offend, I think she's just genuinely curious about how we all view the word "sterilisation", and its various connotations. As I said, being (as yet) unconcerned about my eggs (when I can accept that I actually have eggs), I view "sterilisation" more as a cleansing, disease-preventing measure for medical/surgical equipment rather than the loss of the ability to have children, but other people will obviously have a different take on that. I think that's all she's asking.

. . .that word does affect me, to point that when I hear it spoken in context I feel like I need to cry.

It tends to be a negative for people who know the word. Granted its used in many ways, but in terms of human reproduction, it tends to be something used to keep 'undesirables' from breeding.  So, in much the same way as people don't name their kids Adolph much anymore, another word would prove less loaded.

I chose 'other'. I had a vasectomy as soon as my second child was born. I couldn't wait to get it done. I didn't even wait for insurance to approve it I paid cash and had it done ASAP. Back then (age 25) I was naive enough to hope that it would go a long way in curing my GID...

At any rate, I was happy to have it done. My first wife had a massive heart attack 20 days after my youngest child was born and we were told that with her heart condition she was fortunate that she did not die during child birth. So given that any surgery or pregnancy is a risk for her I gladly had it done.

I personally wouldn't mind being sterile. I looked into several options but Dani's vasectomy was the easiest route for us. For some reason they don't want to sterilize women under 40 who don't have kids. A hint for the docs: If I'm askin' for it chances are I've thought about it way more then those who just popped out bra^H^H^H er, kids. :/

WR

Quote from: tekla on August 17, 2009, 05:07:18 PM
It tends to be a negative for people who know the word.

That's likely why it doesn't register as much beyond a word for me; I'm only in my late 20s.

Heh. . .I'd thought about mentioning how generation may affect individual perception of the word.

I choose "other'.  It is a means of controlling one own ability to reproduce.  And in some cases it is a decision that is make for another person.  In the 50's, the mentally ill were forced sterilized.

I never went thru the procedure myself, as all my exes choice not to have any more children.  But I might have been the cause, because of my GID.  But who knows.

I am looking forward to losing those pesky little T factories.

Janet

As much as I'd want a kid one day, I don't want it to come from a male organ being on me.
I don't see that word anywhere related to what I am doing at all and was surprised to even see this thread.

Seriously, people need to be happy, not to do commonly accepted social actions..