I think I'm an idiot

[Rorshach]

I've just found out that gender reassignment surgery is an NHS funded operation. I can't quite understand it given people with mental illness are having to pay for private psychiatry and the like to stay alive. Did everyone know this for years or am I like I say an idiot?

have known for years

meanwhile, women with breast cancer are denied reconstruction surgery.

Doesn't make you an idiot at all. It is a shocking thing to realise and you'd be entirely forgiven for assuming such surgery had to be paid for privately.

@Grace212 yes I paid for my reconstruction.

meanwhile, women with breast cancer are denied reconstruction surgery.

That’s what pisses me off, the inequality inherent in this.

The NHS can’t fund everything that everyone wants, lines have to be drawn about what treatments/procedure can be funded by the public purse.

Breast implants/construction?
Yes if you have a male body and self-identify as a transwoman.
No/horrendous postcode lottery if you are a woman who has had breast cancer.

Facial hair removal?
Yes if you have a male body and self-identify as a transwoman
No if you are a woman with PCOS.

Hysterectomy?
Yes if you have a female body and self-dentify as a transman.
No if you are a woman who suffers severe dysmennorhoea, premenstrual dysphoria, premenstrual psychosis etc - because you might change your mind and regret it!

There was a movement on Twitter not long ago up in arms that mastectomies to treat breast cancer were being prioritised over elective surgeries for transgender patients. The mind boggles that anyone thinks women with cancer should wait so other, physically healthy people can have cosmetic surgery.

sorry OP, it's annoying when you realise this isn't it.

friend of a friend is going "gender neutral". AFAIC gender is a social construct so this means nothing. but the person involved wants breasts surgically removed in order to be gender neutral. Two year waiting list. not sure how much money is allocated for this.

PS OP you are not an idiot, far from it.

Far from an idiot.

Don't forget the expectation that people about to lose their fertility through the hormone treatment and/or surgery will be helped to preserve sperm/eggs in case they want to use them later on. And then the NHS would be expected to foot the bill for the fertility treatment. In some cases this might stretch to fertility treatment for a sibling acting as a surrogate, as I seem to recall poor young Jazz Jennings blithely said they hoped would happen, at one point.

In the US, where most healthcare is paid for by insurance, this must be creating jobs and generating profits for healthcare providers because they are manufacturing demand for the service. No idea how people are affording the extra insurance premiums, though. (And we know a lot of people aren't covered for life-threatening conditions, so I doubt there are many poor people going through SRS - maybe buying hormones on the web.)

Over here, it can't be doing the NHS any good as there is no additional money to cover the cost of doing all this work, so something else has to give.

This is where the 'being trans is not an illness' as said by Theresa May at Pink News awards (in 2017 I think) falls down for me.

If it is not an illness / mental health / psychological health condition - and in my opinion genuine body dysmorphia falls under mental / psychological health in the same way that anorexia does - why should the NHS pick up the tab for surgeries, hormones etc? The TRAs can't have it both ways.

I've read so many posts from women saying that they want but have been refused a hysterectomy. Should they all just identify as men to get one?

We're back to gatekeeping. Is this a properly diagnosed condition to be treated appropriately like all other medical conditions or is it elective cosmetic surgery. It's the height of self absorption to believe you can self identify yourself as a priority for treatment and go to the top of the queue.

Is there data available on how much the NHS spends on surgery and hormones for transgender people (not including talking therapies or anti-depressants)? If not, how could a FoI request be worded to find this out?

I can’t get my essential thyroid hormones on the NHS either. Still waiting for a referral for what is definitely endometriosis....

It makes my blood boil. Women come last again. My mate has had breast cancer and is so upset at how her breast has been left it gives her very poor body image. Needs a reconstruction on the NHS but lord knows how long the waiting list is.

Do men with testicular cancer have to pay for reconstruction?

I'd say it's less you being an idiot and more there being a concerted effort to hide what's been happening from the general public on account of the fact that the more people who know the more people there will be who object.

This is where the 'being trans is not an illness' as said by Theresa May at Pink News awards (in 2017 I think) falls down for me.

Excellent! In that case it has fuck all to do with the NHS and any changes that a given individual may desire they can fund themselves.