Hi Folks,
I hope Chrissie reads the following at some stage.
Dr Anne Vitale has counselled over 450 TS sufferers, and her FAQ (
http://www.avitale.com/FAQ.htm) states the following:
"
19. I have read your web site and the FAQ. There is much to consider and understand. I think that I have some form of GID. Sometimes I want to be a woman, and sometimes I really love being a man. I often tell people that if I had a choice between male and female I would choose neutral, the qualities of both sexes. Why can't I be both? Or maybe, how can I be both? Is this like trying to have your cake and eat it too?
Millions of people live their lives somewhere other then at the extremes of the male/female binary. This includes people you pass on the street each day. Legally you have to choose one or the other-- male or female-- but privately, where it really counts, just do what comes naturally. It is a little discussed fact but because cross sex hormones effect the brain so drastically, it is exactly the state everyone who transitions will come to find themselves in. They may look like the gender they had aspired to--and that is very satisfying-- but in reality they have become a being who, is now both male and female, free to express as much of each side as they like. In effect they do indeed have their cake and eat it to (at least as far as gender expression goes). "
and
"2.
I'm one of those males that would like to live as a woman, but I'm not sure about Sex Reassignment Surgery. I don't even like going to the dentist. Is this normal?
Sex Reassignment Surgery is very common choice amongst the people I see day to day, but it isn't necessary. Many people choose to live as non-ops. One reason they choose to do so is because they are afraid of undergoing surgery. That is why I start speaking about surgery relatively early in my work with people who have made it clear that they are going to transition. I try to make it sound as ordinary and safe as it really has become. I also encourage them to discuss their fears with several different surgeons. They should also talk with friends who are now post-op and see what that experience was like for them. "
So here is a gender counsellor with a huge wealth of experience who seems to support the decisions that many of us have made in terms of partial transition; at least she isn't warning of suicide if you keep your penis! (I wish I had found these items earlier!)
Fantasists and Deniers we are not. I hope this ends that discussion.
Bryony
