Question about cancers and gender ID

[ladybugcatnoir]

Hi all, name changed as I've previously been outed on my usual name and some people can get a bit, ummmm, excited about gender ID and I don't wish for anyone to be getting excited in the vicinity of my usual name.

I've been wondering and I was hoping someone might be able to give me some idea, with people who are AGP, or completely sold on the idea that they are in fact the opposite gender to the one which they have the body for, to the extent that mis-gendering is literal violence... what happens if they get one of the gender specific cancers or have a family member with a hereditary one? Obviously I'm talking Ovarian and Prostate.

We have recently had a loss through one of these in the family and it got me thinking, some family members have to go and be tested/checked out as it can be hereditary and I was thinking that if you have someone who is so convinced that they are not the right gender, would they just refuse treatment or testing as it goes against what they believe themselves to be?

I'm trying really hard to stay away from emotive language in this post so as not to colour responses so sorry if it's a bit waffley.

I think you mean sex specific, not gender specific. I believe older transwomen have higher rates of prostate cancer as it gets picked up at a later stage. One can speculate as to why. One of the drs on here said medics are told to treat the person as their desired sex, so inevitably sex-specific conditions could be missed. There was a thread a while ago about a transman in the US - ie biological female - with kidney disease who was treated as a male, with possibly fatal consequences. I don't know how that turned out.

We are learning more and more important sex differences: one study has shown a higher mortality rate for men transfused with the blood of women who have been pregnant, for instance.

Delusion can lead to death.

Sorry, I think I do mean sex specific. I'm reading a lot of threads and doing my own research but I'm still getting confused on what is correct terminology.

See, that's what I'm worried about. As far as I know I don't have anyone in my family who is trans, but what if I did and they refused to be tested or treated for a sex specific illness that went against their chosen identity? That would be awful!

I'd expect them to take as much effort in checking themselves for lumps and bumps and/or booking in for the appropriate medical checks as everyone else. In other words, I'd expect them to take personal responsibility. I would not expect them to use scarce resources asking to be checked for ovarian cancer if they did not possess ovaries, or prostate cancer if they do not possess a prostate.

If you change your NHS records to show your acquired gender instead of your birth sex, you receive screening invitations (cervical, breast) based on the updated record.

I.E. The wrong ones for your body.

As things stand, you can’t do this until you are 18, so I suppose it’s the free choice of the consenting adult? I hope the implications are properly explained!

It was Cancer Research UK tweeting about ‘cervix havers’ a couple of months back that pushed me out of lurking and into posting mode once and for all! My thoughts that day were published on the Fair Play For Women website - I’ll come back with the link.

fairplayforwomen.com/cancer_research_drops_woman/

Based on your ovarian/prostrate comments I’m assuming your family has the BRCA2 gene fault?

I get my test results this coming Thursday.

@BettyDuMonde - yup, on both sides. It was that that pushed my thoughts this way. Good luck

I'll go and have a read of your link now.

It would be a difficult situation OP, no denying it. We can only hope most trans people - I'm sure the 'old style' transsexuals - are fully aware of their biological reality and would act sensibly. We obviously hear from the noisy minority most of the time. But if someone is a competent adult, they make their own decisions about their health. All you could do would be to do your best to establish a good relationship with them and try to get them to get help as needed. If they refuse well .... so be it.

"they refused to be tested or treated for a .... specific illness that went against their chosen (way of life) ? That would be awful!"

No more awful than anyone else who chooses not to pursue medical interventions or even diagnoses. Unless someone is sectioned, or a court has intervened for a minor, anyone can refuse any procedure whatsoever.

This is also a very long-standing religious issue - JWs

@BettyDuMonde is that lady, Paula, you? I'm so so sorry, that's exactly what I'm going through. It's my mum who's passed away and my grandad of Prostate and now I have to go and have the test to find out if I and my amazing DD are at risk.

If that lady is you, you have summed up my feelings so so well.

We get given a special status, or should, that highlights the specific tests we need going forward.

I for example, will be eligible for prostrate and breast screening and notified accordingly.

In relation to health care generally, our old records get sealed and a new one created, however medics can still access them if deemed medically relevant. For example a testicular ultrasound I had about 15 years ago isn’t relevant anymore, but if a problem occurred in my lower abdomen GRS would be.

I’m so sorry :/

Losing your mam is like the world getting tipped on it’s axis, only no one can see it except you.

Ovarian cancer is a absolute bastard.

We’re not entirely sure where my mum’s gene fault came from yet, but the marvellous genetic counsellor I’ve been seeing is now trying to find some of my late grandmother’s stored tissue to test.

I feel very fortunate to have the NHS, and this opportunity for greater knowledge about my own body, an opportunity my mother did not have.

My sister and I, like you are concerned about our daughters, but my counsellor assures me that by the time they are truly at risk (30s onwards) there will be lots of new options for risk management and treatment.
We have sons too, but the prostrate risk is not as startling as the breast/ovarian risk. If our boys have the gene fault, they will be offered extra screening (only my eldest is old enough to be tested, you have to be 18 to consent fully).

As for the trans-related questions - I would hope that treatment for gender dysphoria would include talking therapies that cover this kind of thing - for me, it seems important to make the distinction between biological sex and acquired gender, not just for cancers, or other gene related diseases/disorders, but for things like alcohol consumption and contraception too!
I’m not trans, of course, but I’d be interested in hearing the experiences of those who are.

I do worry that removing the current medical gatekeeping will put trans identified people at greater risk of avoidable health issues, but ultimately, if being accidentally misgendered is worse to a person than dying of cancer, that is their priority to decide - you cannot identify out of your biological risk.

And yes, that’s me. I’m GC in real life (albeit in a fairly low key way!) and while Nic of Fair Play for Women gave me the option of being completely anonymous, I decided that it was important enough to put my name to it.

Thanks Bronners!

I saw a high profile young transwomen comment on Twitter about having to specifically be opted out of the cervical screening service (I believe reminders now come via a national programme rather than your own GP?) is that something you’ve heard of?

Re Hereditory Ovarian Cancer and genetic testing, there's a good guide by Target Ovarian Cancer:
www.targetovariancancer.org.uk/guides

Target Ovarian Cancer, Ovacome, Ovarian Cancer Action and The Eve Appeal (all gyny cancers) have some great resources and most have support lines staffed by health professionals.

I believe reminders now come via a national programme rather than your own GP?

Yes, cervical smears are arranged by a nationally run program. GP practices are contacted each year (i believe) to see if any female patients need to be removed from the list. This is usually done by administrators. GPs can ammend individual's records.

So sorry for you loss ladybug

I agree that it is a big worry, particularly for the trans people who seem to have the least acceptance of male vs female biology.

It can be hard for anyone to go to a doctor for check ups or investigtions but especially if one's MH is poor. Some people do feel such huge cognitive dissonance between what they believe about their identity and what they must know to be true about their biology that I am sure that this will lead to many people avoiding treatment.

Avoiding treatment for these reasons ofMH, extreme denial of your biology and being unble to face challenge to your inner feelings, is not an informed or reasonsed choice, but a symptom of illness, a person is being copelled to comply with their irrational thoughts or beliefs. I am so against gender identity issues being demedicalised for reasons just like this.

If my DH in his severe depression was allowed to make his own choices with no intervention and pressure from me to care for himself according to 'normal' standards, and to make safe sustainable decisions he would very likely be dead. When he is well he is beyond thankful that I was there to save him from himself.