What an insult!!!

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JustOne
JustOne Member Posts: 226
edited June 2014 in Life After Breast Cancer

So Chasity Bono is having a sex change reassigment surgery, good for her, so what. But the so-called expert, Dr. Alter is an idiot...

A lot is involved in the sex reassignment process. Here's the lowdown, according to Dr. Gary Alter from "Dr. 90210" -- he's an expert. Here's what Chastity Bono is going through right now.

-- First step ... A psychiatrist evaluates the patient. If appropriate, the doctor prescribes male hormones.

-- The hormones change the body makeup, which includes hair growth. The clitoris also grows larger.

-- Removal of breasts. Dr. Alter said most states will recognize the person as a male once this occurs. A hysterectomy can also be performed during this process.

-- Dr. Alter said the decision about changing the genitalia can take several years, while the patient is taking hormones. Dr. Alter says most people stop at this point.

-- Dr. Alter says if the patient goes forward, the surgeon often makes a small penis out of the clitoris and a scrotum by joining both labia majors. Testicle implants can then be inserted. The most sophisticated option is microsurgery in which skin, arteries and nerves are taken from the forearm and made into a phallus.

As for cost, Dr. Alter said it's all over the place, depending on how far the person wants to go. We've spoken to people who have had it done, and they say the full deal costs more than $100,000.

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  • Member_of_the_Club
    Member_of_the_Club Member Posts: 3,646
    edited June 2009

    Oh, I really, really don't think there is anything here to imply that women who have had mastectomies are no longer female.  There has to be a point where a transgender person is recognized as having changed genders under the law, a bright line has to be drawn.  The key here is that the hormones lead up to the mastectomy.  The hormones lead someone to take on male characteristics, but They have to take the hormones for the rest of their lives so hormones alone can't be the dividing line.  So they've chosen surgery as something that is irreversible.  But surgery without the hormones wouldn't do it.  Its not even the same surgery as I assume they leave the nipples and the skin.  I think if this guy is just saying what the law is, that it has nothing to do with women who have had cancer.

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  • JustOne
    JustOne Member Posts: 226
    edited June 2009

    Yes, but the good Dr. should have made it clear that the law was meant for 'transgendered' females. Not a blanket statement like he did.

    There are so many women out there, especially young women, that know nothing about BC, No need to give this impression, IMO.

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  • Jorf
    Jorf Member Posts: 498
    edited June 2009

    Sorry, I think he was pretty clear about what he was talking about (and I'm going only from what you wrote). He was talking about it in the context - making a list - of the process of female to male.

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  • Tabbygirl521
    Tabbygirl521 Member Posts: 193
    edited June 2009

    I know someone who is going through this process and, yes, the removal of breasts is pertinent to that situation. It's not at all the same as when BC patients think about it. There are all kinds of practical/legal issues, like when is it OK to use a public restroom intended for the gender you are transitioning to. That may sound trivial but it's not. My friend is at the point of needing the mx (and for him it truly is a need, emotionally as well as legally). I think it's very clear what the doctor was referring to here. Having breasts removed because they feel like foreign objects is a lot different from what we face, and I do think he dr's comments are in the correct context here. I don't see the potential for young women or others to get the wrong idea of what constitutes being female (or male).

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  • Jaybird627
    Jaybird627 Member Posts: 2,144
    edited June 2009

    JustOne, I didn't like how that sentance was phrased either. I knew what he meant but reading the words didn't set well with me, and I still have both of my breasts!

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