To think men should not be allowed to be gynaecologists

That doesn't surprise me whatsoever. The fact he actually felt comfortable enough to say it too - grim all round.

I paid privately to see a gynaecologist who is a man when I was messed around by the NHS (again), I chose him because of his world class expertise and reputation in the field not his sex. YABU

You're treating "if forced to choose, many would choose female" as equivalent to "they care strongly about the doctor's gender." Those aren't the same thing.

Someone can have a mild preference when asked in a survey but be perfectly happy seeing either in real life. The fact that 58–71% reported no preference suggests that for most women, gender is not a decisive factor.

The flaw in your reasoning is that it treats the gender of the doctor as more important than the availability of qualified doctors. If there were enough female gynecologists to meet demand, then perhaps you could have that discussion.

But if limiting the number of male gynecologists to keep them "in the minority" as you put it results in fewer gynecologists overall- which it absolutely will, it will cause longer waiting lists, reduced access to care, or staffing shortages, and women's healthcare will suffer and more people will end up with undiagnosed or untreated cancers and other serious female health issues.

If 60-70% of women genuinely have no preference, then excluding or discouraging a large pool of capable doctors to satisfy the preferences of a minority could actually make the majority worse off through longer waits and reduced choice.

Health outcomes are going to nosedive for women, not get better!

YANBU Op, to not want a male gyne. I totally understand and agree with what you've written. I wouldn't ban them tho, that'd make some men want to be one more, complain etc. Then as we see here, some women don't mind them.

Adam Kay was clearly very dismissive of women.

You don’t have to see a male gynae OP. Request a female one for future appointments

For all those people saying that they prefer these male gynaecologists. Bear in mind, my gynaecologist was stupid enough to talk about comparing my vagina to other women's, it doesn't mean the others aren't thinking it. Men do love a ranking system.

YANBU to not want a male gynaecologist.

YABU to suggest that men who choose that profession are in some way weird.

YABU to call people who disagree with you handmaids. Maybe your views don’t represent the majority? Even if they do, maybe perfectly reasonable people can have a different opinion. If you can’t appreciate that then there’s very little point in a discussion.

I hate the fact that my gynae is a man who has NO understanding of what I’m going through. He has “lived experience” through the women he works with - none of whom have my issues. So how can they be trusted to understand???

Why not? If most women don't care (but if forced to choose, would mostly choose females), and most of the rest actively prefer females, then surely we should want the majority of gynaecologists to be female?

A quarter of women wanting female gynaes is not a small number, and the more male gynaes there are, the more likely that they'll have to wait longer for treatment. It only makes sense to have more females than males!

I don’t know if I 100% agree but just this week I went for a small gynae procedure and my consultation had been with a female gynaecologist. The conversation was very “I” will do this procedure and whilst I am there “I” will also do something else because this is an opportunity to have a look around.

I arrived to the appointment to find out it was a male gynaecologist doing the procedure who I first met when I was already in a gown. It did make me uncomfortable and he didn’t end up doing the procedure I originally went in for, instead just doing the quite invasive extra procedure that I didn’t really need. I do feel he didn’t do the original procedure because as a man he did not appreciate what it is like to have those symptoms.

Will you also van lesbians from being gynaecologists too ?
Because obviously doctors are all sex mad individuals only interested in getting kicks out of looking at their patients genitalia

Back in the late sixties, the Bond era,, in Zambia, my mum and her friends all had the same male gynaecologist.

Goldfinger they nicknamed him 😁 I'm guessing they were satisfied with him.

The study does not support that conclusion being drawn. It found that most women (58–71%) had no preference regarding their gynecologist's gender. Of those who did express a preference, more preferred female gynecologists than male gynecologists.

That is all the data shows. Jumping from "some women prefer female gynecologists" to "male gynecologists should ideally be a minority" is not a conclusion supported by the study at all.

In fact, the largest group in the study explicitly stated that gender was not important to them. The large "don't care" group means there is no strong demand signal for a particular ratio.

I complained because he took 12 years to diagnose me with endometriosis (finally diagnosed at 51) this was despite me seeing him every year for all of those 12 years. All I got back was the typical 'sorry we will make sure this doesn't happen again' response.

I'm now on the endo team at the same hospital and my endo gynae is no better, a very arrogant man.

Although I'm not knocking all male gynaecologists, there is a fantastic male gynae there who everyone loves but sadly his waiting list is really long.

Utterly puerile attitude. I have a great male gynaecologist, he’s even given me trans vaginal scans - the deviant 🙄

This is actually quite rich coming from someone who clearly expects all the good little women to clutch their pearls and freak out about male gynaecologist @CaragianettE

Get a grip!

My MALE gynaecologist was amazing, he listened and actually heard me when 3 previous FEMALE ones dismissed me because I was young and wasn't thinking yet about kids so the fact I was doubled over unable to breathe never mind walk every time I had a period was to be just accepted as part of the female condition.

You are being ridiculous and highly insulting.

You’re not getting the responses you wanted so we’re all handmaidens ? You’re being ridiculous and entitled. But then you know that.

For those interested, in 2018, one study found that:

• 58 - 71% of women did not express a preference for their gynaecologist's gender (58-71%)
• ~25% preferred female gynaecologists.
• ~14% preferred male gynaecologists
• If asked to choose between female and male physicians based solely on the aspect of trust, 69% will choose female gynaecologists

Going off that, male gynaes are still needed, but should ideally be a minority as most women either have no preference or prefer females.

(@Pinkchickenwine here are some stats)

Unfortunately not. I was young and at university living in London for the first time and had been dealing with worse things (leading to the need to see a gynaecologist). In the 90s, complaining about men like this didn't' seem worth it.

Having had considerable interaction with a male and female gynaecologist, the male was infinitely better than the female. Better communication, interaction, approach... and care!!

I had plenty of male gynaecologists looking up my foof when we were endeavouring to have a child. All were very kind and I wouldn’t think twice about seeing one now.

In the UK, most of the very best gynae surgeons are male and that mattered far more to me.

I developed a very good relationship with one of them & asked why he became a gynae. Apparently it’s one of the few specialities that is both physician and surgery work from the outset. When you add in the unsocial hours of the compulsory obstetrics years that’s why so many men rise to the top of the profession.

Well, I've had both, and TBH the male ones were better and didn't cause me as much pain. Some doctors are better than others whatever their sex.

I absolutely agree! My initial response was to a post which said all consultant breast surgeons were men which is definitely not the case. My subsequent posts were in response to someone else commenting on my initial post, and I was just being polite.

And also, just to put into balance. You will get bad male and female doctors. I had the most awful young, female doctor who ignored my crippling period pains and refused to check my
lumpy breast as I should have booked a double appointment - I complained and was given another doctor who check my breasts and examined me and referred me to a specialist clinic for further diagnosis of my PP.