(November 23, 2016 at 4:14 pm)SteelCurtain Wrote: As usual, we all need a reminder that the world is not black and white. There are shades of grey.
1) As far as I know, in most places there needs to be an extensive psychological run-up, years of hormone therapy, and consent of a doctor in order to qualify for GRS. You can't just walk into a surgical center on a whim and ask a surgeon to perform these procedures. So let's disburse with the idea that this is ever a thing done on a whim.
2) Literally anyone who suffers from GD could regret an assignment procedure, however minor. From what I've been told by actual trans friends/acquaintances usually the regret is because of outside reaction or it not turning out to look like what they had in their head--NOT because they "changed their mind" about their gender dysphoria.
3) When a person is a minor, there should be a three pronged decision tree, weighted. The trans person themselves, their parents, and their doctor should all be involved. I don't think there's a doctor in the western world that would perfrom a GRS procedure on a 12 year old, so by the time we are at this point, we are talking about a 16/17 year old. At this point, the parent's ideological/relgious/moral reservations should take a distant distant distant back seat. If they are concerned about their child's wellbeing, concerned about the procedure risks, fine. Ultimately, by the time a person is at the point where GRS is even an option to undergo, they are way past the point where these things are relevant.
I also think it is important to distance this conversation from elective plastic surgeries. This is not the same conversation for many reasons.
^this