TRANSGENDER SURGERIES
Perhaps for political reasons, Gender Dysphoria has been grouped together with sexual preference under the label of Transgender. However, most professionals recognize this DSMV designation found in 0.005% to 0.014% of the population as being of a different nature from that of same-sex or bisexual desire. The research has been exploring how best to care for persons who experience this with one of the possible solutions being a sex change surgery. In 2004 the Guardian studied this and found that:
“There is no conclusive evidence that sex change operations improve the lives of transsexuals, with many people remaining severely distressed and even suicidal after the operation, according to a medical review conducted exclusively for Guardian Weekend tomorrow. The review of more than 100 international medical studies of post-operative transsexuals by the University of Birmingham’s aggressive research intelligence facility (Arif) found no robust scientific evidence that gender reassignment surgery is clinically effective.
The Guardian asked Arif to conduct the review after speaking to several people who regret changing gender or believe that the medical care they received failed to prepare them for their new lives. They explain why they are unhappy with their sex change and how they cope with the consequences in the Weekend magazine tomorrow (July 31).
Chris Hyde, the director of Arif, said: “There is a huge uncertainty over whether changing someone’s sex is a good or a bad thing. While no doubt great care is taken to ensure that appropriate patients undergo gender reassignment,