Should gender reassignment surgery be covered by public health funding?

@Subzero3 That world seem fair - I think this already happens anyway?

@Fandymo just to let you know m-to-f transitions don't involve castration or surgery. Perhaps breast implants, but that would be it. Its done with hormones.

Have you actually done research into into costs?

just to let you know m-to-f transitions don't involve castration or surgery. Perhaps breast implants, but that would be it. Its done with hormones.

It’s dependent upon the patient as to whether or not surgeries are required. I have no doubt Fandymo is well aware of what’s involved, but it wouldn’t sound nearly so casual as he intended if he were to outline what surgeries are actually covered under the treatment abroad scheme, and what surgeries aren’t.

Since we are being mercantile, let's calculate, shall we? How much does a person cost to you?

Let's take a Séan who grew up in Ireland, his parents spend €200K raising him, the state spent €150K educating and providing other facilities. Now Séan wants to become Siobhán and it really affects her productivity and happiness. The state may chose

• NOT to help: As a result Séan/Siobhán will either emigrate (no more taxes from her to Ireland) or will likely drain state's resources fighting depression and not paying as much in taxes as she could, OR
• the state DOES help: at a miserly expense compared to the total potential tax revenue from Siobhán, she stays in Ireland, contributes to the economy and pays taxes year after year.

Fair point, I missed the word surgery. Still doesn't appear to invovle castration, though, as the other posted claimed (open to correction though, don't really have time to fully reasearch at the moment!).

The only way it doesn't involve castration is through social transition,if they choose to have full gender surgery they are getting a one way ticket to castration , considering what has to be done to create a vagina from a penis .

But that's only if the person chooses to medically transition.

Other wise it's just a case of self identifying as one or the other

Hmm a lot of made up statements and medical gatekeeping going on.

Reminds me of this:

https://youtu.be/dSn8y1CGapQ

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/21526-gender-affirmation-confirmation-or-sex-reassignment-surgery

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What happens during transgender surgery?

What happens during surgery varies depending on the procedure. You may choose facial surgery, top surgery, bottom surgery or a combination of these operations.

Facial surgery may change your:

• Cheekbones: Many transgender women have injections to enhance the cheekbones.
• Chin: You may opt to soften or more prominently define your chin’s angles.
• Jaw: A surgeon may shave down your jawbone or use fillers to enhance your jaw.
• Nose: You may have a rhinoplasty, surgery to reshape the nose.

If you are a transgender woman (assigned male at birth or AMAB), other surgeries may include:

• Adam’s apple reduction.
• Placement of breast implants (breast augmentation).
• Removal of the penis and scrotum (penectomy and orchiectomy).
• Construction of a vagina and labia (feminizing genitoplasty).

If you are a transgender man (assigned female at birth or AFAB), you may have surgeries that involve:

• Breast reduction or mastectomy.
• Removal of the ovaries and uterus (oophorectomy and hysterectomy).
• Construction of a penis and scrotum (metoidioplasty, phalloplasty and scrotoplasty).

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Castration yes. If you get a gender reassignment surgery more than likely it will involve castration. You cant really do the downstairs surgeries without removing what was there before, and sure if people are genuinely convinced they are the opposite 'gender' then they will not want to keep their own reproductive organs.

Gender reassignment surgeries are the new lobotomies - in several decades they will look back and think how did we ever allow this to happen to people. The post-op suicide and depression rates should be telling enough that this is not the best option for 99% of people.

Thats social transitions .

The majority of trans people don't get or don't want full medical transition .

Some get boobs naturally with hormones to with implants and some get beards and male builds through hormones depending on personal choice

Any sources for these post op claims you make, particularly in relation to them being directly attributable to the surgeries? A breakdown of what surgery would be useful too as there are many different surgeries available.

I'm also not quite sure the fixation on "castration"? What's the drama there? Especially considering hrt therapy are going to alter the function of sex organs anyway.

I think these discussions would go a lot smoother if people actually learned a little about what they are talking about tbh.

Why is it directed at me? I'm actively seeking information and I'm well up to speed on the various procedures and at what stage people can stop having kids etc (it's got nothing to do with surgery).

But I thank you for your concern.

It's a bit difficult anyway having these discussions with ill informed cis (non trans, if you prefer) people getting all hysterical and full fearmonger-y. There is rarely any point engaging, but thank you for taking the time to post some actual studies. I of course cannot comment on them until I have read them as a study on its own isn't really enough (as I'm sure am informed person like yourself will appreciate).

timmy there’s genuinely little point in posting stats about suicide rates among people who are transgender because they won’t have taken account of the numerous circumstances which can lead to a person taking their own life.

This part of your post though, just by way of example of how healthcare for people who are transgender has improved in recent decades -

Even if you change your mind and "de-transition" later in life, the castration associated with SRS means you will never be able to have children.

This is not true any more. What happens is that the person is offered the opportunity to store either sperm or eggs so that should they choose to start a family in the future, they will be able to. This is quite a change from previous decades where mandatory sterilisation was a condition of undergoing sex reassignment surgery in most European countries. The mandatory sterilisation requirement was too much for most people who wished to avail of sex reassignment surgery, because it meant giving up the opportunity if they chose to start a family in later life.

Those countries have since had to pay compensation, but it doesn’t undo the damage they did by making mandatory sterilisation a condition of availing of sex reassignment surgery -

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-netherlands-lgbt-sterilisation-idUSKBN28B5UX

https://tgeu.org/trans-people-to-receive-compensation-for-forced-sterilisation-in-sweden/

https://news.trust.org/item/20191231124846-c03ly/

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/france-obligatory-sterilisation-transgender-people-paris-same-sex-marriage-a7367041.html?amp

https://outrightinternational.org/content/european-court-ends-forced-sterilizations-trans-people

Forced sterilisation wasn’t for the benefit of people who are transgender. It was completely unnecessary, if you want to talk about irreversible long term damage that could lead to an increased risk of suicide.

@One eyed Jack This is not true any more. What happens is that the person is offered the opportunity to store either sperm or eggs .

The essential part castration doesn't change ,the sperm or egg is then implanted in a surrogate or partner some time in the future .

That's very true ,

A lot of transphobia comes from Cis people too.