Transgender Paper free essay sample

Some scholars find that sex reassignment surgery (SRS) will benefit people, while others argue that transgender people are dissatisfied of their SRS, some possible disappointments arise from the experience of immense discrimination from society (Dewey 2008). Recent studies have shown many effects of taking medical treatments regarding changing sex on biological parts of the body (Goh 1995, Kanhai 2000), but such scholars lack investigation on the long term psychological and emotional effect on the transgender person after taking these treatments. From a blog written by a transgender man, Walt Heyer, we learn that he felt excited changing into a woman at first but eventually regretted his decision and most of his life was spent in sorrow and disappointment. My paper will investigate the reasons of Walts regret of undergoing special treatments. What factors are related to the long term satisfaction of transsexual people undergoing SRS? What traits of Walt led to his regret? Method I started this research project by identifying my topic. Initially, I was interested in the effect of hormones on transgender patients but because of my lack of knowledge in biology, I found it difficult to find any conclusions that I could understand thoroughly related directly to the effect of hormones. Later on, I read about Walt Heyer and his experience on the internet and was inspired by his letter to the Massachusetts Judiciary Committee, where he explained his regret in undergoing SRS. Eventually I decided on researching the psychological effect of transgender treatments as well as the preoperative factors related to it and the satisfaction of the patients. I found the majority of my research articles using Academic Complete and Google Scholar. After reading approximately 20 related articles, I chose 4 to be my main focus. Of them, Anne Lawrences â€Å"Factors Associated With Satisfaction or Regret Following Male-to-Female Sex Reassignment Surgery† is the most relevant to my research topic. Body Paragraphs People who have the desire to change sex early on in their life have a greater chance of being satisfied with their transsexual medical treatments. In Anne Lawrences (2002) article â€Å"Factors Associated With Satisfaction or Regret Following Male-to-Female Sex Reassignment Surgery†, she says that many researchers agree that there are two types of MTF transsexuals. One is those people who transition at an early age, and the other is people who typically transition at an older age. She points out that there is a moderate positive correlation between absence of regret and greater childhood femininity. Also the younger the age of first wish to change sex, the more satisfied the person will be after he/she undergoes transsexual treatments, which means the less likely that he/she will regret. The more younger people are when they first desire to change sex, the more likely that they are natural transgenders, and they do not suffer from temporary psychological problems. In general, the transgender people who are satisfied with their treatments experience greater success in life and feel less emotionally depressed compared to before undergoing the treatments. Zoran Rakic et al (1996) have concluded that in most transsexuals, the quality of life is improved in aspects of their relationships with other people, attitude towards their own body, sexual activities, and occupational functioning. He found that these people were more satisfied with interpersonal relationships after their surgeries, experience depression less frequently, and even became more confident in life, e. g. more of them were engaged in full-time college studies. However, we can find that the sample of people Rakic et al chosen were all sex reassignment homosexual transsexuals, and they mentioned on page 3 that homosexuals â€Å"request change of sex more frequently, more forcefully, and at an earlier age†. This hints that indeed people who desire to change sex in their youth will be more satisfied with the result. There is a lack of psychological treatment before, during, and after the SRS. Kuiper and Cohen-Kettenis (1988) suggested that many transsexuals face social problems before and after their surgery, and there should be more attention paid to psychosocial guidance in addition to medical guidance in their article â€Å"Sex Reassignment Surgery: A Study of 141 Dutch Transsexuals†. Of the people who were dissatisfied with their surgery, many experienced loneliness, as they often did not have a partner, and experienced less acceptance from their direct environment. These people mentioned the lack of adequate psychosocial guidance before and after their surgery. Walt Heyer also proclaimed that some transgender people have psychological issues rather than biological needs, and he criticized relevant organizations for not focusing on the psychological treatments which are in need. If transgenders take sufficient psychological treatments, some might realize that they do not really need to undergo SRS. The causes of psychological problems regarding to the desire to change sex could be personal and social instability. Jan Eldh et al (1996) conducted a long term follow up research on 90 SRS patients. Their main finding is that personal and social instability, unsuitable body build, and age over 30 years at operation correlated with the satisfaction of patients regarding their SRS. In their investigation, 44 people were in fact singles, living alone and without or with poor social relations. The fact that nearly a half of these transgender people live isolated hints that depression and isolation could be a factor to their desire to undergo SRS, perhaps in seek of a new life. It also was explicitly reported that most of the unemployed transgender people suffered from psychological disorders such as depression, anorexia, and anxiety neurosis. Conclusion In this paper, I have investigated the main factors that influence the satisfaction of transsexuals undergoing SRS. From Walt Heyers letter, I learn that there are still issues about the treatments provided and the determining factors of transgender people who will benefit from the surgery. After researching on the topic based primarily on surveys conducted by scholars, I have concluded that some of the main factors that could determine the satisfaction level of a transgender person about their SRS are the age they first want to change sex, the greater childhood femininity or masculinity, and the forcefulness of their desire to change sex from their childhood.