There is an article in The Telegraph in which Keira describes that transition and the affirmation path didn't solve her problems, but created new ones. She describes how her self assessment was never questioned, how none of the causes of her feelings of alienation were explored and no alternative treatment, such as counselling, was ever offered. Along with all the other serious medical problems, this is a pathway where failure seems guaranteed because success is impossible. No matter how hard she tried. Keira's courage in speaking with such eloquence about her experience is humbling.
“I definitely felt affirmed at the Tavistock,” she says. “When I spoke to these clinicians there was no exploration of why I felt like that, really. It was just accepted, and they were trying to deal with it [by putting] me on to the treatment path.” At that stage her family life was in crisis. Her father, who had reluctantly taken her to the early appointments, refused any more involvement and kicked her out of the house. Suddenly she was living alone in a youth hostel in Cambridgeshire, attending a new school but with no friends. “It is a very awkward time when you are going through those changes,” she says.But her treatments continued. The following year, aged 17, she started receiving testosterone injections and was referred by the Tavistock to an adult gender clinic in west London. At first, she took pleasure in the unfamiliar changes in her body – her lower voice gave her more confidence and she felt renewed energy. But she feels she was not adequately prepared for the more severe side-effects, in particular her deteriorating sexual health. “There is definitely a massive downside and those downsides aren’t spoken about,” she says
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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions
I would always be female no matter how hard I tried
16 replies
BovaryX · 11/10/2020 07:26
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fairydustandpixies ·
11/10/2020 07:42
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