Hi Sorcha, I guess I was a bit too subtle in my point. I was trying to avoid giving offence and I'm not used to writing like this.

As the original posted has been removed I'll just address the ftm bit. It was carelessly written, but thinking about it I'm not sure how to express it properly. I get tangled up in words and definitions. I am m2f, and have been on hrt for more than 5 years, but for all that I can't really relate to going the other way. Even considering that we're all just being true to our real identity, I still don't really relate to it. I don't really understand non-binary either. And I certainly don't understand why people jump out of airplanes for fun. But none of that stops me accepting people who do any of those things. The purpose of that sentence was simply to express tolerance and acceptance for those who are different (to me).

hi
i have been on just antiandrogens for 6 1/2 months.for me part of this was to see if my feelings changed once the male hormones were reduced. rather than have an irreversable operation which i may regret later. i still have my gender feelings and would love srs but that thought that its the most important thing certainly deminished. just adapting to the reality of finally being hounest with myself is taking time. time is the thing you need to use to find out what you really want. if you are unhappy now try to imagine how you will feel if it turns out to be not what you expected.

Quote from: AnonyMs on September 19, 2014, 03:36:31 AM
Even considering that we're all just being true to our real identity, I still don't really relate to it. I don't really understand non-binary either. And I certainly don't understand why people jump out of airplanes for fun. But none of that stops me accepting people who do any of those things. The purpose of that sentence was simply to express tolerance and acceptance for those who are different (to me).

Thank you AnonyMs,  I get your point.    We should all know by now that one size does not fit all.  Maybe something doesn't seem natural or logical to you but in dismissing it are we not just as guilty as the people that dismiss the trangender people?

By the way SorchC, I would prefer to be a ciswoman (not going to happen),  or a transwoman but  I wouldn't mine at all being a man with a vagina.  I have some very feminine features anyway.  It might not feel right for you but I'm not you and it seems very logical and right to me.  Is this going to happen?  Probably not.  But as I said before I don't think there's a problem with thinking outside the box.   I also think RLE particularly the kind that was encouraged in the 80s and 90s by the psychiatric community was very cruel.

Take care,
Paige

P.S. Have been seeing my current therapists for 2+ years now.  She's amazing and very respected.

Quote from: Paige on September 07, 2014, 10:36:26 AM
It just seems like SRS at the beginning is a more logical approach to the whole transition.   If I could seriously change my body at any time with an orchiectomy why shouldn't I be able to also have an SRS whenever I want?

Anyway, just curious what everyone thinks.
Thanks,
Paige

Hi Paige,
In your OP you said you were curious what everyone thinks about your proposed approach to transition. If you do a synthesis of the answers, I think you'll have to agree that not many people are on the same page as you  regarding the idea that starting with GRS  " is a more logical approach to the whole transition" .
Someone also correctly pointed out that you might have difficulty finding a surgeon who would be willing to do the operation under such conditions.
End of the day though, it's your life and you are perfectly entitled  to ignore the input that you asked for. Logic probably doesn't have much to do with it though... 
Take care, really !
Donna   

Quote from: Donna E on September 19, 2014, 03:07:46 PM
Hi Paige,
In your OP you said you were curious what everyone thinks about your proposed approach to transition. If you do a synthesis of the answers, I think you'll have to agree that not many people are on the same page as you  regarding the idea that starting with GRS  " is a more logical approach to the whole transition" .
Someone also correctly pointed out that you might have difficulty finding a surgeon who would be willing to do the operation under such conditions.
End of the day though, it's your life and you are perfectly entitled  to ignore the input that you asked for. Logic probably doesn't have much to do with it though... 
Take care, really !
Donna

Hi Donna,

Yes I asked for opinions and thank you and others for those opinions.   I guess I should have explained my question was more theoretical.  I didn't have any doubt that getting SRS before transitioning would be very difficult, if not impossible with the current restrictions.   But if we lived in a different world, and these restrictions weren't in place, I think this approach might work with some people.  I'm not suggesting this be done without lots of counseling.   

Oh well, have a nice day.
Paige

I believe that i's better to become FT or t least PT before doing srs, because in many cases it's kinda the final step. I understand your point because it's better to get srs outta the way asap so that you don't need AAs anymore. Still, I think that srs shouldn't be something you do really early on, maybe I would reduce the time of HRT from 2-1 years to 6 months requirement with a lot of information given to the patients that decide to do that so that they can evaluate their decision and not regret. Although, I think that most regrets are not really caused by the time of FT or HR, but maybe they are not happy with the results of srs, or thought it would be a different experience. When srs it's actually a really hard process, especially the recovery, and having that done too early would cause more depression to some people.

I also suspect that taking away the gonads without supplementing hormones is likely to cause the adrenal glands to go in to a T production frenzy. Which is part of the reason hormones are generally required before SRS..

Quote from: Paige on September 19, 2014, 02:17:36 PM

By the way SorchC, I would prefer to be a ciswoman (not going to happen),  or a transwoman but  I wouldn't mine at all being a man with a vagina.  I have some very feminine features anyway.  It might not feel right for you but I'm not you and it seems very logical and right to me.  Is this going to happen?  Probably not.  But as I said before I don't think there's a problem with thinking outside the box.   I also think RLE particularly the kind that was encouraged in the 80s and 90s by the psychiatric community was very cruel.

I wish I'd been born with a female body as well but sadly I wasn't. Being a transwoman is as good as it will get for me and I've always known this. Being identified as male was the first of my big problems with how I was and then seeing the body just reminded me of it and till March still will  🙁 For me it was always a case I wanted SRS and my question was What do I have to do to get it? In the UK where I was at the time they gave me a list starting with a Name Change and going Full Time, Hormones were not even an option apart from self medicating (which I considered too dangerous and expensive) for at least a year after going Full Time according to my Psyche. That's mostly changed now thankfully 🙂 We are all different and I celebrate that   I don't think we have to understand why people do things as long as we accept they have the right to do with their lives and bodies whatever they feel they must.

Most of us say they wouldn't do SRS before transition but that is our own opinion, I suspect the reason most if not all surgeons refuse to do it is because they have a reputation and the way the world is today with Social Media and online forums it only takes one unhappy patient with a bit of internet knowledge to effectively ruin their careers.

Quote from: kelly_aus on September 19, 2014, 10:17:09 PM

I also suspect that taking away the gonads without supplementing hormones is likely to cause the adrenal glands to go in to a T production frenzy. Which is part of the reason hormones are generally required before SRS..

After my Orchie I was told I need hormones for the rest of my life to prevent Androgen Deficiency Syndrome. That could be T or Estrogen I had the choice but I was told I needed to take one of them and you won't win a price for guessing which one I chose 🙂 Many women in their 60's suffer from it already and they say that age group is getting younger. I won't go on about the effects of it here but I'm sure you can Google it

Hugs

Sorcha