‘Big surprise’ for advocate as province to start funding gender reassignment surgery

Truro Daily News, NS, Canada
Published on June 13, 2013
By Haley Ryan – Metro Halifax

HALIFAX – For Kate Shewan, the last week has been a “rollercoaster.”

On Wednesday, the province announced it would cover gender
reassignment surgery, just days after the health minister sent a
letter to the Nova Scotia Rainbow Action Project (NSRAP) saying the
procedure wouldn’t be paid for.

“To actually come around and say ‘yes they are (paying),’ was a big
surprise,” said Shewan, treasurer with the NSRAP.

“I was overjoyed with that really, really exciting news.”

Health minister David Wilson said the surgeries will be covered under
MSI, and section 4.8 of the Physician’s Manual that prohibits funding
for the procedure will be immediately removed.

Wilson said the change came after meeting with NSRAP, reviewing
medical evidence, and examining if there were any barriers for Nova
Scotians who wanted government support for the surgery.

“When we do have legislation or policies in place that are hindering
those individuals from moving forward, and ensuring they can gain
access to the services they need, then we need to change that,” Wilson
said.

“This decision really comes down to doing the right thing.”

Kevin Kindred, NSRAP chair, said likely 6 to 8 people a year would
receive the surgery, based on the numbers in seven other provinces
already providing funding.

“There has to be patient-by-patient assessment that it is medically
necessary, so it’s not simply a matter of demand, just like you and I
can’t insist on having heart surgery,” Kindred said.

Kindred said the ballpark cost for the surgeries ranges between $30-60,000.

Shewan said this surgery is “a little bit different” than other
funding shortfalls the public hopes to have covered because the
restrictions were targeting a specifically marginalized community.

“It will make them feel like it’s going to allow them to be a complete
person,” said Shewan of the surgery.

Wilson said he has spoken with Doctors Nova Scotia, and over the next
few weeks the department will form a policy outlining what procedures
will be covered.

© Copyright 2008 – 2013 TC Media

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Province to fund gender reassignment surgery

Halifax News Net, NS, Canada
Published on June 12, 2013

Transgender Nova Scotians will soon have gender reassignment surgery
funded by the province. Government committed today, June 12, that the
surgery will be covered by MSI.

Health and Wellness Minister David Wilson said he came to the decision
after reviewing the medical evidence and the policies of other
provinces that fund this procedure.

“Based on the values and direction this government has taken on the
issue, I am happy today to confirm funding for gender reassignment
surgery,” said Wilson. “This morning I met with members of the LBGTI
community to communicate this decision.

“Last November, the province enshrined transgender rights in
legislation. We don’t permit others to discriminate against
transgender people, and the funding of this surgery is an issue of
dignity, and equality for transgender Nova Scotians. I have tremendous
respect for the LGBTI community and would like to thank them for their
activism on this issue.”

Section 4.8 of the MSI Physician’ s Manual that prohibits funding for
this surgery will be immediately removed.

Nova Scotia will be the eighth Canadian province to cover gender
reassignment surgery.

“We were really happy to hear this commitment from the minister this
morning,” said Kevin Kindred, chair of the Nova Scotia Rainbow Action
Project. “In our view, it is the logical next step from the amendments
to the Human Rights Act that the government put in place late last
year, and we look forward to working with the minister further on it.”

© Copyright 2008 TC Media

http://www.halifaxn ewsnet.ca/ News/Local/ 2013-06-12/ article-3274807/ Province- to-fund-gender- reassignment- surgery/1

 

Living a lie: local woman born a man, says the hurt and anxiety doesn’t have to be

When your anatomy says you’re a boy but you feel as though you’re a girl, life can be very complicated, spiral out of control, and even lead to suicide attempts, says one Hatter.

Chrissy, 52, is currently living as a woman and expects to have gender reassignment surgery to remove her male genitalia within 18 to 24 months. That transition of hormone therapy and even voice lessons to make the tone of her voice more womanly has not been an issue at all.

“When I first dressed like a women I felt as though a tonne of bricks was off me,” said Chrissy. “I feel as though I have my life back now.”

She has legally changed her name but official identification documents can be changed only after the reassignment surgery.

While textbooks estimate the prevalence of transgenderism at one in 34,000, an Edmonton psychiatrist, Dr. Lorne Warneke, says it is closer to one in 700.

Chrissy remembers at the age of five thinking something must be wrong because she felt like a girl rather than the boy her body appeared to be.

Nobody talked about “gender identity disorders” in the 1960s or what the reason may be and she tried to live as a boy.

She did not feel she could discuss her concerns with her parents but she often wonders if she was one of those babies born with genitalia for both sexes. She would like to know if any surgical changes were made after her birth.

In adolescence the discontent intensified.

“It felt like the battle of the sexes in my mind,” said Chrissy. “I was depressed, had anxiety, and had difficulty working because the men around me thought I was gay. I was not gay though.”

See Problems, Page A2

There were several suicide attempts, and the birth of two daughters, unemployment, homelessness, and alcohol addiction before she was referred to a psychiatrist to talk about a transition to gender reassignment.

“I don’t want to see others hurt like I did,” said Chrissy. “There is a solution.”

Chrissy knows of five other transgender people in the community, some of whom have already had transgender surgery.

The Medicine Hat Care Centre, which provides a needle exchange program for addicts, concurs with the numbers.

“We’ve had five come through our doors,” said program manager Barbra Madonko. “Those are just the ones who have been brave enough.”

They request information and want to know who to turn to for help. Madonko says there is very little awareness of the condition in Medicine Hat or services to help. The turmoil these individuals face in part contributes to the addictions they seek help for, she said.

Chrissy would particularly like to see more awareness in the medical community.

A year ago Alberta Health reinstated funding for gender reassignment surgeries. When the announcement was made it was expected that 25 people each year would have the surgery at a total cost of about $1 million.

© 1996-2013 The Medicine Hat News

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Trans Student Starts Nonprofit to Fund Others’ Surgeries

5.28.2013 By Benjamin Lindsay

College senior Jacob Rostovsky needs your help to change someone’s life

TUFF (Trans United Family and Friends) is a budding nonprofit organization that promotes trans tolerance and support. It also sets out to raise funds for FTM and MTF medical procedures that many transgender and gender variant individuals in the United States cannot afford.

The organization is the brainchild of Jacob Rostovsky, a 22-year-old transgender male (pictured at left). Rostovsky is currently a senior and Point Scholar at American Jewish University pursuing a degree in psychology with an emphasis on gender studies.

 

“Honestly, it’d be great if there were no longer a need for TUFF in 20 years due to insurance companies covering transition costs, and everyone would be able to have access to healthcare,” Rostovsky says. “But until then, I will do everything I can to help as many transgender individuals have hope and happiness by being able to afford their transitions.”

Rostovsky came out as trans 10 years. Fortunately, his family was affluent enough to afford hormone treatment for the past eight years, and he underwent top surgery six years ago—transitional steps that he credits with changing his life and helping him further fit his gender identity. Knowing the incredible benefits of such procedures, Rostovsky has set out to change the lives of those who are not as financially fortunate.

“I was incredibly fortunate to have financial and family support through my transition. However, along the way, I met hundreds and hundreds of individuals who had to go through everything alone,” Rostovsky explains. “Most were cut off from their families due to being transgender, and many of them couldn’t find employment because they weren’t able to get hired due to their appearances.”

Rostovsky says he has known since age 15 that he wanted a future aiding the trans community, and after realizing the benefits of his own surgery, he knew that funding surgeries is his exact calling. TUFF is still in the beginning stages, but Rostovsky has hopes to fund one lucky applicant’s gender reassignment surgery by September 2013.

Currently a student and full-time, unpaid intern at The Lavender Effect, a Southern California nonprofit seeking to create a LGBTQ museum, Rostovsky covers all of TUFF’s funds himself. He knows that if his dream is realized, it will all pay off in the end. The current TUFF fundraiser campaign is to raise money to earn its 501(c) nonprofit status, as well as to fund the recipients’ surgeries.

With such a life-changing opportunity, the application process—an online form that requires information about current hormone treatments, surgeries, and future planned procedures—is rigorous and selective. It also requires basic financial information to determine one’s need. According to Rostovsky, when choosing a recipient, he places the most value in the two essay questions, the first of which asks the individual’s role in the trans community, the second for recipients’ life goals and career aspirations.

“I want to give funds to someone who will also give back to the community,” Rostovsky says. “I don’t want to fund someone’s transition and then have them do nothing positive for themselves afterwards. If I give someone this wonderful opportunity, and I help the community, I hope that they, in turn, want to give back to the transgender population.”

Rostovsky says the current campaign has raised nearly a quarter of the nonprofit’s preliminary funds, and he has extremely high hopes for the future. “In an ideal world, I could donate something to everyone who asks,” Rostovsky says, “but until then, I hope that within the next five to 10 years, I am able to fund an average of 20 to 50 people per year. I want TUFF to be as big as other LGBT nonprofits that give out financial assistance.”

For more information, visit TUFF’s current Go Fund Me campaign for details about donating.

 

US Boy Turns Himself into a Real Life Transsexual Barbie

This photo shows Nicole Sanders is getting ready in her stylish apartment. [Photo: Imagine China]

A transsexual spent 200,000 pounds and 12 years transforming himself from a fresh-faced boy into a real life Barbie doll.

Jason Torres, who now goes by the name Nicole Sanders, has had countless surgeries from nose jobs to breast implants and brow lifts in a quest to be like the iconic blonde. Nicole even had controversial silicone injections in her buttocks, thighs and hips to create the feminine curves of Barbie and hide the boyish frame of her previous life.

Since the age of 18, Nicole has had five boob jobs, four nose jobs, a brow lift, cheek implants, jaw surgery, chin implants, calf implants, filler injections in her lips, botox jabs and sexual reassignment surgery.

Nicole, 30, said: “Growing up I was always playing with Barbie dolls and I just loved the way she looked. I also admired sexy women like Pamela Anderson and Carmen Electra and I knew deep down that I wanted to be like them. It’s hard to say exactly how much I have spent on surgery but it’s definitely in the region of 200,000. I have had pretty much everything done except liposuction – I’ve always been naturally skinny.”

 

Landmark case for intersex rights: parents sue over surgery

In a groundbreaking case, the parents of an intersex child are suing a South Carolina hospital and the social services department for performing ‘irreversible and medically unnecessary’ surgery

15 May 2013 | By Anna Leach

In the first case of its kind in the US, the adoptive parents of an intersex child are suing over the damage caused by ‘irreversible and medically unnecessary’ surgery.

When Mark and Pam Crawford’s child, MC, was 16 months old and in the care of South Carolina social services he (he now, aged eight, identifies as male) had surgery to remove part of his genitals.

The surgery had the effect of ‘potentially sterilizing him and greatly reducing, if not eliminating, his sexual function‘ said a statement from Advocates for Informed Choice who are fighting the case.

Pam Crawford, who knew about the intersex condition before adopting MC, said she was ‘really sad that that decision had been made for him’ and surgery had been performed before they got custody of him.

‘It’s become more and more difficult as his identity has become more clearly male,’ said Crawford.

‘The idea of that mutilation that was done to him has become more and more real. There was no medical reason that this decision had to be made at that time. There was no threat to his life.’

The Crawfords‘ legal team are suing South Carolina Department of Social Services, Greenville Hospital System, Medical University of South Carolina and individual employees.

‘This case is about ensuring the safety of all children who do not have a voice,’ said Anne Tamar-Mattis, executive director of Advocates for Informed Choice.

‘I would give anything for this to not have been done to our child. I don’t want it to happen to any more kids,’ added Crawford.