Treatment Details:

Marci has pale skin and brown hair.

Comments:

I am writing this letter in support of the Cristianos Laser clinic in Altrincham. Hopefully this account of my experience and treatment at the clinic will give you an idea, from a patients’ point of view, of the quality and standards of care offered by them. It may help if initially I give you something of my background and current situation. I am a 42 year old Male to Female Transsexual person currently undergoing clinical treatment supervised by Dr Russel Reid M.B., Ch.B., M.R.C.Psych. Historically this treatment has always centred around psychological evaluation and gender re-assigment with the help of hormone therapy and the real life experience of living in the correct gender role, (I am currently undergoing this “real life test”) and then leading on to gender re-assignment surgery. The cause of Gender Dysphoria is still not really understood by anyone although recent studies have pointed towards a biological cause before birth. After all, every foetus starts in the womb as Female, before hormone changes make it Male. I imagine like everything else in life things are never black and white and I guess I was very much in the grey area when it was my turn to get zapped with the right amount of hormones! Simplistic I know, but backed up by a recent study in Holland that revealed that a Male to Female transsexuals’ brain, is, in key areas, the same as a normal genetic female. This is crucially an area of the brain called BSTc that determines which gender you think you are (normally pretty straightforward for most people!), making the phrase “ a woman trapped in a man’s body ” have a ring of truth to it. So there it was; I was born (a baby obviously) and the medical staff looked at my bits and declared me male! So I was bought up as boy absorbing all of the teaching and nurturing and stimulation as a boy is supposed to, which even nowadays is a lot different to the way baby girls are bought up. There is an amazing amount of learning and actions in our society that are reinforced as either “male” or “female “ behaviour. For me it was probably in my teens that I really thought something was wrong deep inside I did not want to turn into a Man but a Woman. However every time I looked in the mirror I saw a boy not a girl looking back – being from a practical working class family that called a spade a spade it was obvious to me that I must be mad and to stop thinking that way! This I tried to do for TWENTY years and entered a period of denial and trying to fight my inner most feelings. I was happiest when I had not time to think about myself or my internal conflict. It is very difficult to get into deep internal analysis if you are fighting the elements on top of a mountain or trying not to get hit by another martial artist Of course nature is powerful and I reached a point when I had to do something, I simply could not carry on trying to be a man. The process was then diagnosis by a psychiatrist which in itself was a massive relief as I knew what was wrong – followed by trying to be brave enough to start the treatment proper. The idea of this is to give the Transsexual person the best chance of getting on with their life in the gender role they feel they should be. So, I had already had the Psychiatric assessment (to make sure I was transsexual and not as mad as I’d thought) and then followed it with hormone therapy then laser therapy and electrolysis to get rid of my facial hair. Finally I’ve undergone voice therapy so I sound reasonably feminine - at least my voice fits in with my body so I can present a “normal” picture to society at large. So this is the process, at least for those of us that can afford it of how to go about “Gender Transitioning”. However, often what is neglected, is, in my opinion and the opinion of many like me, the single most important factor in the care and wellbeing of M-F Transsexuals. This is effective removal of the male beard. This is really at the core of how we feel and can stop many TS’s moving forward with the rest of the treatment. I nearly gave up on my treatment because every time I looked in the mirror all I saw was a dark beard shadow looking back at me! When I explain my condition to girlfriends on why it has taken me so long to change my gender role I always ask them how they would feel if they had to live with a heavy beard! All without exception tell me how profoundly upsetting this would be for them. So I hope I have painted the picture of how important removal of facial hair is, and Laser in particular. Once a TS person knows this treatment is possible they then have to source a carer. Unfortunately many Laser clinics are ignorant of the specific needs of transsexuals, where not only is the technical knowledge and experience of working on what is essentially a male beard lacking (hormones do little to soften the hairs), but emotional support and wellbeing too is often neglected. Every time I hear that a Transsexual person is about to undergo Electrolysis or Laser treatment I desperately hope that they make contact with a Cristianos clinic. As you have probably concluded, a patient at Cristianos clinic can expect the highest standards of service, expertise, understanding of gender problems and real care from any one of the staff. The staff themselves, I am sure are employed not just for their professionalism, but for their real empathy, appreciation and willingness to help people with a range of gender problems. All of this means that a patient receives more than just quality care (from the treatment itself to ice-pack application and facilities to re-apply makeup) but are made to feel the valuable members of society they are. So there we go, I still have to work hard to fit in as I have had to “unlearn” my male side but really I’ve done all the hard work now and two months on can present myself as a forty something woman rather than a forty something man ! The rest is easy as I can get on with my life. Am I happy? You bet! Every day I think I’ve died and gone to heaven. I am Me. On a personal note I would like to thank Chris Hart for her support in helping me to “get there”. If you would like to contact me directly please do feel free to do so. I sincerely hope this letter helps Chris Hart to carry on with her vital and groundbreaking work. Kind regards Marcie

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