Dr. Courtney Ridley Missing

[dallas]

Has anyone heard of what became of Dr. Courtney Ridley? She is a gynecologist in the Dallas-Fort Worth, TX area. I was a patient at her practice, but then it disappeared! Her practice was called Integrative Gynecology but don't click on the website if you do a Google search. The page comes up with a notice that the site is not found, but worse, I then get a notice that the site contains malware.

I started loosing contact with her when her office wouldn't return my phone calls, but that wasn't that uncommon for them. (Dr. was great, staff not as much). Then the phone number was disconnected. Then the website died. Does anyone have any idea what happened?

It's not just curiosity; I pre-payed a couple hundred bucks for labwork I never got done. I also have no idea how to obtain the last couple years of my medical records so I can take them to a new physician. Any help tracking this lady down would be much appreciated! Thanks!

[Kaelin]

(972) 393-1300 (First google-suggested number, Health Grades: http://www.healthgrades.com/physician/dr-courtney-ridley-3gcbn/appointment#Content_anchor)
(972) 495-2800 (US News: http://health.usnews.com/doctors/courtney-ridley-409702/contact )

The website attributed to Dr. Ridley appears to be down (as you had said).

You've probably used that first number, since it has popped up in a lot of places.  The second one may possibly work.  I'd recommend trying both of them when they should be open again tomorrow.

Is it possible for you to drive over to their address (7150 N President George Bush Hwy
Garland, TX 75044) during business hours and see if they are still there?  It can be a hassle, but it'll probably give you some more definitive clues (Are they gone?  Are they closing but may still be able to hand over or forward your records?  Can you get your money back?  Are they moving somewhere else?)

[dallas]

I have to admit I haven't taken the time to drive there. It's a long way but not unmanageable. If I'm good I'll try tomorrow. I'm not hopeful though which is why I hadn't tried yet. A business getting their phone shut off is not a good sign, and to have made no effort to contact their patients? really not good form. Though, I also have fears the doctor was injured in some way. She was well known in the area to take care of transgendered people. I'll report back with what I find. Thanks for the reply.

[FennecFox]

I know this post is old but I wanted to speak out about my experience with Dr. Courtney Ridley, especially for the sake of other transmen.

As an FtM I would NOT recommend Courtney Ridley.
She was the first doctor I went to because I figure since she was trans she would be more accepting/understanding. I had been in therapy for over a year, and even though I had gotten the approval from my therapist long before I wanted to wait until I was confident enough to come out of the closet.

None of us can help the bodies that we have. I'm only 4ft 10 and have a very feminine physique. Right off the bat she started making comments about how I wasn't "manly" enough. That's right. I wasn't and most certainly not for a lack of trying. Passing as a man had consumed my mind through out my early and mid twenties and I did everything I possibly could. She went out of her way to tell me in great detail about how "disgusting" transmen are and how I was just a confused straight girl. She also asked me inappropriate questions such as "Were you raped or molested as a child?". She also went about how transmen should be sterilized and how it's disgusting that some of them have had children (even though she has had children from before she was out). She berated and degraded myself and transmen in general for the entire consultation time I was with her. I did my best to keep a calm and professional composure through out the meeting and it was not easy. At the end she denied me hormones and that was when I started crying. Then she said she had changed her mind but only because I was crying. She was only willing to give me my hormones if I kept getting continuous recommendations from my therapist and because I had "finally" showed some "genuine" emotion about being trans.

Ridley is a transwoman but I cannot recommend her to other transmen.

"Oh she's just covering her bases and making sure you're really trans"
No. Asking questions about whether I had been raped and abused or judging me by my sexuality is not covering her bases. It's unprofessional at best and harrassment at worst. I have known that I was assigned the wrong gender at birth since I was 4. That doesn't make me more trans, but it means I spent my entire life dealing with this issue. I had over 20 years trying to conform to being cis and it never happened.

After regaining the confidence that was so hard to get in the first place I made an appointment with Dr. Vasquez. He was very kind, patient and seemed much more knowledgeable about transpeople. He was able to see that I was under a lot of fear and distress about coming in and was very gentle in talking with me. No inappropriate questions, no trans-bashing, no questioning my therapist's letter recommendation. He used the appropriate name and gender with me when speaking to me. I still go to him for my hormones. He and his staff are wonderful at what they do.