Quote from: Joanna Dark on May 30, 2013, 11:07:38 PM
Yes you're right their process is cruelly strict and does not follow WPATH. I'm not sure about age (You have to be over 18 for HRT) but you do have to be not only femme but also strictly heterosexual. It doesn't sound like a very accepting place.

I can't say for sure about Sweden, but I live and have transitioned in Norway (the neighbouring country). I think the programs in the two countries are comparable.

My experience here is that the gatekeeping is a lot more strict than in the US, but there are no requirements regarding sexuality or appearance. They did however act like jerks though, at the GID-clinic I mean.

.

Quote from: MariaMx on May 31, 2013, 06:56:01 AM
For all practical purposes srs changed very little in my life when I had it. I had already transitioned and was at the time living my life the way I always felt I should. srs was not the procedure that gave me my life.

By the time I got around to it I thought very little about. It was just something that needed to be done in order to cross the finish line. Sometimes at night I would have bouts of these "OMFG! This is happening for real!"-moments. I at times worried I might regret it. I didn't think I would, but I just couldn't be sure. As it turned out I would have no regrets. Surgery and recovery was hell, I wouldn't want to do it again but I would if I had to.

I am almost 8 years post-op now and the funny thing is I can't exactly remember what it was like before, so I don't really see how it would be possible to regret it at this point in time. Right now it pretty much feels like I was born like this. It's my natural state.

I shudder to think what life would be like without srs. I've had nightmares about waking up one morning to find myself reverted.

I totally agree with this. i was told that the surgery wouldn't really change anything else about my life and that i needed to do it. and yet it did change everything. even the experiences i had with people. like for some reason after srs about a month later i guess my smell changed because i have had quite a few guys comment on the fact that i smell sweet even after coming from the gym witch is really weird and gross.
and iiii your so right i did not hav any idea what i was getting myself into. i was shocked by all the post op care needed and stuff. so for a while i did regret it and even tried to de transition and learn to be a guy but it didnt work so i gave up on that fast. running from the post op problem was not smart on my part. but like i said im so happy now and i would think 9/10 times people normally are. unless they just really dont pass and live is a hostile area. i have herd from people in those kinds of situations that regret it.

Quote from: Joanna Dark on May 30, 2013, 09:25:50 PM
I read a study from Sweden that did follow-up on SRS. And the vast majority were happy and in the two groups there were two or three suicides out of 150-175. It is unknowable whether those deaths are related to SRS as many trans women (the study focused on MTFs) have issues beforehand. I'm sure most surgeries carry a small dissatisfaction rate. I am remember my best friend from childhood told me one day out of the blue that a lot of transsexuals kill themselves after surgery.  I think this is a myth and the vast majority are ecstatic. You can't please all the people all the time and some people have too high expectations.

There's a Swedish documentary about SRS regret: Regretters.

One MTFTM is into women only and regretted his SRS the very next day; the other MTFTM developed SRS regrets after 30 years(!!) and having been married to a man for 11 years.

http://www.documentaryfilmonline.com/film-reviews/regretters/

I know 2 post op regretters personally; one admits he made a mistake and wishes he'd never underwent SRS (and I warned him several times before having SRS); he's on testosterone since 2 years and living as a male again.

The other doesn't directly admit zhe's regretting zher SRS but had zhis breastimplants removed, went off oestrogen, then on livial (an 'inbetween' hormone' and since a couple of years testosterone, sporting a goatee and living as 'transgendered', carefully avoiding the word 'transsexual'.

The first person developed regrets a year post SRS; the second after 10(!) years.

I guess I just don't understand. For me, I wanted to "get rid of it" for lack of a better phrase long before I even knew it was possible. I mean by the time I was 10 or 11 I knew what a transsexual was and I knew i was one so I guess it is easier for me. I guess I have pretty sever genital dysphoria along with everything else so I can't imagine SRS would be anything other then ecstasy. In fact, I could pretty jealous reading about it.

When I said regret srs I did not mean back to being a man but back to being pre-op or non-op. As in leaving your breasts implants alone and still live as a woman but no srs.

I have a friend who got her srs done not to long ago became lazy and now her new neo-vagina has some what closed on her. And was told by the surgeon that there is nothing he can do for her but for her to use the first dialtor and douch. She is in so much pain she wishs she was not such a lazy cow and now she has ****** her self over. So yes she wishs it was not as much work and is very depressed.






Edited for profanity.

Quote from: Lanalicious34 on May 31, 2013, 01:39:30 PM
When I said regret srs I did not mean back to being a man but back to being pre-op or non-op. As in leaving your breasts implants alone and still live as a woman but no srs.

I have a friend who got her srs done not to long ago became lazy and now her new neo-vagina has some what closed on her. And was told by the surgeon that there is nothing he can do for her but for her to use the first dialtor and douch. She is in so much pain she wishs she was not such a lazy cow and now she has ****** her self over. So yes she wishs it was not as much work and is very depressed.

I've heard of and read about several stories such as this and it just blows my mind. At least for me, I waited several years and spent around $25,000USD out of my own pocket (no insurance, no loans, no family help) to pay for my SRS... and just to waste it to have such an outcome due to "laziness" is utterly, unequivocally, and absolutely mind-blowing. Why did she have it done in the first place? I mean, it is a lot of work in post-op care, and some people can get depressed, and some do gain weight due to hormonal fluctuations, and lack of activity can lead to weight-gain during recovery, but WTF! Just don't do it, if you're not going to take care of it. Kinda along the same path as having kids or a pet. I just can't process such a thought process or lack thereof.






Edited for profanity.

If you're unsure...don't do it!

Weigh the pros and cons first and then see if getting SRS is worth it to you.

-DISCLAIMER- Below is my own personal opinion of SRS.

For me...I'm okay with my genitals...and sometimes I would prefer a vagina. So to me SRS is a complete waste of money...Poof! $25,000 gone, and a new vagina that may not properly work, and I have to painfully stretch it 3-5 times a day for a year...if I don't, my vagina closes up and I have just wasted $25,000...

-DISCLAIMER-Just to repeat, this is my personal opinion.

Until they can find a better way to create a vagina...SRS is not an option for me. I have time to wait until new technology is developed, I can deal with having a penis.

Respectfully,
-Skye

Oh you mean like transition but stay pre op. in that case I would say even more no way don't regret it. There are so many benefits to being post op. plus if your like me and don't allow back door access then post op is the way to go. Two thumbs up for being post op

Quote from: Lanalicious34 on May 30, 2013, 08:21:46 PM
I would like to know from the members here and please be 100% honest do any of you regret having srs?. I know people out there who get it done must feel this way and that its not all candy and roses. And wish maybe they should of kept that part of their body alone.

If you have had SRS and regret it please respond to this post. If you don't regret it please do not respond to this post.

Why do you want to know about the regrets?

This has been pretty informative. I'm still struggling with what parts of my body that I don't like.
Body hair, lack of breasts, and a somewhat masculine face are among them. My penis on they other hand has never hurt my feelings. However I do feel that I would want to not "tuck" often. And that my personal feelings on romantic relationships would be towards having a vigina instead of a penis that will at some point require meds just to produce an erection. I think I feel that the risk and pain is worth it. I'm well acquainted with how surgery recovery works and how best to improve ones recovery time so I should do well with it.

Decisions decisions...

Quote from: Skye-Blue on May 31, 2013, 02:19:53 PM
Until they can find a better way to create a vagina...SRS is not an option for me. I have time to wait until new technology is developed, I can deal with having a penis.

There is a better way. It's called the Davydov procedure. The vagina wall is created using the peritoneum and there is little dilation required. It can be retrofitted.

Quote from: Tristan on May 31, 2013, 03:15:58 PM
Oh you mean like transition but stay pre op. in that case I would say even more no way don't regret it. There are so many benefits to being post op.

Do I know about those benefits. Living fulltime, pre-op since '96 (HRT '94), I'm now well acquainted. Those benefits are huge.

Quote
plus if your like me and don't allow back door access then post op is the way to go.

Is the only way to go for me. There's no way my ex was going there, for dear life.

Quote from: Nicolette on May 31, 2013, 04:27:27 PM
Do I know about those benefits. Living fulltime, pre-op since '96 (HRT '94), I'm now well acquainted. Those benefits are huge.

Is the only way to go for me. There's no way my ex was going there, for dear life.

haha well i like the way you think.
the post op club is a fun one most of the time 

I´m surprised that I don´t regret after all I had to go through for this vagina and it even ended just a fingertip deep... Fistula, colostomy, urethra dilating, Ileus, heavy scar tissue. I was basically sick and in pain for a year.
I did it in Sweden. The gatekeeping is pretty rigorous but it is getting better all the time. I am rather androgynous and not heterosexual at all and it was just fine. But it took forever even though I had zero problems. The good thing is that it is almost for free. I would never have afforded the surgery privately.

Quote from: Nicolette on May 31, 2013, 04:19:03 PM
There is a better way. It's called the Davydov procedure. The vagina wall is created using the peritoneum and there is little dilation required. It can be retrofitted.

As far as I know from researching the website, it's not used for transsexual women...only women with shortened or nearly closed vaginas. So I'm doubtful the procedure would work the same for a transsexual woman.

If it did work for trans women...I would be tempted to take that route, assuming that they can also construct a vulva. Which still requires scrotal grafts...making electrolysis necessary...

Long painful sessions of self inflicted torture on the scrotum...yeah, still not worth it for me.

Overall...it's better...but it's questionable as to the results. Yes, I could get "retrofitted" but that also requires more money as well as regular SRS, which is too painful, too costly, and too risky for my comfort.

I think some people have a perception that SRS will change all of their life problems

Before having surgery, you have to be there.  You have to want the operation so desperately.  The operation needs to be the last fundamental change, not the first...I have seen people who have had SRS and couldn't understand why.  How were they referred, how could they possibly be feminine enough?  Well, it doesn't matter what I think or feel, the fact is men are being operated on today and their vagina's seem to be an added accessory.

I'm talking about the men who have surgery, not the men who stay as men but cross-dress or have occasional fantasies.

My suspicion is that our families have a lot to do with how we progress.  Love can, and does conquer these issues but it is our families who have to give us the support.  Without it we suffer and become tortured.

My surgery wasn't great, functional, not aesthetically pleasing...but it gave me the opportunity to complete my loving.  My family didn't.  The burden and the damage of that rejection started at the age of two.  No child should be put through a loveless childhood.

But, I made it!  Made myself too!  And some people have even said I have class.   

Quote from: Skye-Blue on May 31, 2013, 05:18:37 PM
If it did work for trans women...I would be tempted to take that route, assuming that they can also construct a vulva.

Well what trans women wouldn't want a fully functional female reproductive system? Fact is it isn't going to happen. Ever. Not in anybody who is on this boards lifetime at least. I know people talk about all kinds of magical surgery but I think for the next 30-50 years they will make advancements of the techniques that are around today but nothing approaching an actual female reproductive system. People have been trying since at least 250 BCE. The first trans woman I know of is Elagaba, a Roman emperor who employed all kinds of doctors to try and get her a vag. She was also the first trans woman to be murdered for being trans. Though Roman emperors tended to get offed no matter what. But that was the reason.

Take the cellphone. All it is is a glorified walkie talkie. The radio was created back in the early 1900s by Marconi. Since then the major advancement is the cellphone which is just tweaking of existing technology. However, if you're talking about a more sensate vagina, that will definitely happen in the next 20 or so years (though from what I hear it existing techniques create a very sensate neo-vagina so that shouldn't be a reason). There is only so much they can do. I guess if you had a donor they could take that tissue but I wouldn't count on there ever being donors for trans women when cis women will always come first. Unless you have money.

I could be wrong. I hope I am. But I am wanting to have SRS in the next five years or as soon as I can so I guess I don't matter. There is no way I'll regret it. It'll be the best day of my life. And it will solve all my major problem since my major problem is the fact I have a penis.

Quote from: Joanna Dark on May 31, 2013, 09:32:18 PM
People have been trying since at least 250 BCE. The first trans woman I know of is Elagaba, a Roman emperor who employed all kinds of doctors to try and get her a vag. She was also the first trans woman to be murdered for being trans. Though Roman emperors tended to get offed no matter what. But that was the reason.

Fascinating history.  Thank you.

From Cassius Dio

Aurelius Zoticus, a native of Smyrna, whom they also called "Cook," after his father's trade, incurred the emperor's thorough love and thorough hatred, and for the latter reason his life was saved. 2 This Aurelius not only had a body that was beautiful all over, seeing that he was an athlete, but in particular he greatly surpassed all others in the size of his private parts. This fact was reported to the emperor by those who were on the look-out for such things, and the man was suddenly whisked away from the games and brought to Rome, accompanied by an immense escort, larger than Abgarus had had in the reign of Severus or Tiridates in that of Nero. 3 He was appointed cubicularius before he had even been seen by the emperor, was honoured by the name of the latter's grandfather, Avitus, was adorned with garlands as at a festival, and entered the palace lighted by the glare of many torches. Sardanapalus [the Emperor], on seeing him, sprang up with rhythmic movements, 4 and then, when Aurelius addressed him with the usual salutation, "My Lord Emperor, Hail!" he bent his neck so as to assume a ravishing feminine pose, and turning his eyes upon him with a melting gaze, answered without any hesitation: "Call me not Lord, for I am a Lady." 5 Then Sardanapalus immediately joined him in the bath, and finding him when stripped to be equal to his reputation, burned with even greater lust, reclined on his breast, and took dinner, like some loved mistress, in his bosom. 6 But Hierocles fearing that Zoticus would captivate the emperor more completely than he himself could, and that he might therefore suffer some terrible fate at his hands, as often happens in the case of rival lovers, caused the cup-bearers, who were well disposed p471toward him, to administer a drug that abated the other's manly prowess. And so Zoticus, after a whole night of embarrassment, being unable to secure an erection, was deprived of all the honours that he had received, and was driven out of the palace, out of Rome, and later out of the rest of Italy; and this saved his life.

7 He carried his lewdness to such a point that he asked the physicians to contrive a woman's vagina in his body by means of an incision, promising them large sums for doing so.

She was actually a very kind and generous emperor. The people loved her. It was the elites that hated her. She goes down bad in history because of her trans-ness. Mainly the historian Gibson who considered it to be a deviancy. And he literally wrote the book on Rome. I can't imagine what it must have been like to be trans before the 1920s when the Germans did something about it. I believe the Nazis killed all the surgeons who started the process or impoverished them. If not for that we'd prob be further along. That's why I think we need to be on guard and remember that if we won't fight for our rights who will? People think our rights and ability to transition can't or won't be taken away but history proves it can be.