Many people, I’ve found, think that the medical interventions are the hard part of being transgender. In fact they are often the most exciting part. The hardest things to deal with, usually, are hiding your identity before deciding to transition, or dealing with discriminatory behaviors from those around you. And these pains are […]
I am saddened to hear yet again of trans-women facing this type of abuse. The old me is often described as ‘HORRIFIC’! In the talks I give I often show a picture of me at 16 wearing a skirt as part of my Police Cadet Uniform. I’m lucky to be blessed with a […]
Imagine taking a child, dressing them in clothes that are strongly the opposite gender and taking them out or forcing them to school like this? How distressing would this be? Not to mention the detrimental psychological effect, especially if done long term. Yet this is exactly what happened to me (and many other trans people) […]
As there are such strong differences in the appearance of the sexes and because cross-sex hormones bring about such radical physical changes, I can understand how some might think that doing something which appears so extreme to the body must be very unnatural and will cause it stress or even harm. But it’s not a […]
You might assume if you’re listening to a qualified, experienced and well-respected psychiatrist, such as Dr Lucy Griffin, that what she has to say about an area of healthcare would be well informed and correct. Especially when the points she makes sound like common sense. [See Daily Mail article here] But without working regularly with […]
Matt’s latest blog post can be found on the A-Speakers website – https://www.a-speakers.com/transgender-101-pronouns-make-real-difference/
Personally speaking I think this is a relatively simple question to answer and I find it frustrating as to why people find it so difficult to understand. If a woman had breast cancer and had to have a double mastectomy does this make her any less of a woman? No of course not! […]
Imagine if to get a flu jab, anti-depressants or a broken leg fixed you had to have 4 or 5 separate Dr appointments and at least 2 specialists confirm your diagnosis and give you a signature before you could get your prescription or any treatment.
Wouldn’t that be a waste of resources?
Waiting times would soar, costs to the NHS would rise and patients’ physical and mental health would suffer.
Decades ago being transsexual (now more commonly referred to as transgender) was very much considered a mental health issue, and required several evaluations by psychiatrists. There were many hoops to jump through because the medical profession needed to make absolutely sure that the patient was indeed transsexual before they were allowed to have their ‘sex change’. A term now very outdated and considered derogatory. Many faced being sectioned just for thinking they might be in the ‘wrong body’. After all who in their right mind would want to change gender?
These days things have moved forward. Well they have a little, but I very much feel the medical profession are strongly dragging their heals back to those times. Patients still require several assessments and signatures from trained professionals to get the go ahead for every single step of treatment and in the UK the NHS typically require more steps than the latest WPATH guidelines. This means treatment for many can take a decade or more to complete. As you can imagine the process of gender transition is all-consuming and patients lose years of their life to this process, years that could have been spent
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