Sex reassignment therapy.

Sex reassignment therapy has been a trend of development in the world, especially in Thailand. The purpose of sex change operation is serving the requirement of transgender. These requirements are satisfying their lust for power. Decide having a surgery is the most important and venturesome conflict. Because they have face to face with many difficulties before, during and after transgender surgery. The major surgery is a bold decision, a turning point in their life. Transgender who want to do that have to think about it carefully, and prepare their psychology because once the surgery started, everything can’t be changed.

What is the Sex reassignment therapy?

Before starting the first surgery, transgender people will be given the psychometric test by the doctors. In order to see that if they can stand the public opinion or not, the doctors will ask them to act and wear like the sex they want to be.

The first surgery is changing the shape inside of the body. In this surgery, the doctors remove the sex organs such as the testicles, penis, scrotum... or ovaries, breasts…, implant prosthetic vagina, breast... Since this time, they will become a new person with their complete changed appearance and lost some body-parts which are sex characteristic gene. Thus, there is no organ to produce semen quality and reproductive hormones so they have to be supplied the hormone every month. So, the “patient” has to have enough money to pay for that.

After this surgery, “patient” will have some other minor surgeries to complete the appearance which is typical of sex they like, such as implanting the whiskers, lifting the nose, padding the chin, fixing the eyelashes, eyebrows… In the first year, they wouldn’t look like a male or female. The "patients" have to spend at least three or four years for having a new complete body that they satisfy.

Why do they have to use the hormone? There are two purposes: first, it uses for maintaining the necessary amount of hormones of the body which were cut away. Hormonal supplementation is helping the body adapted to a new life and against the dilution of phenomenon bone, premature aging.... Second, hormonal medicine is also use for maintaining good – looking appearance for good looks. Estrogen and progesterone help them to have soft skin, long silk hair and shiny... and Testosterone helps a hand for visibly of the muscle, growing beard and mustache... If they don’t use it, their body will become very ugly and they won’t look like anyone.

What are difficulties of the people who want to have the Sex reassignment therapy?

Facing with the challenge that surgery is just only changing their appearance. If they want to be as graceful as women or as muscle as man, they must take the Endocrine regularly and continuously throughout their lives. Furthermore, they have to accept the side effects of these drugs and also its main effects such as the risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease... The surgery can not bring them a natural genital physiological activity. So that, they have to accept that they will never have any child. In summary, satisfying personal interest that is changing to another sex, transgender have to face with many hardships and challenges, to be affected by the side effects of hormonal drugs and also the money for the expensive surgeries.

Sex reassignment therapy is a difficult thing to do. But why did they choose to do that?

In my country, there is no law banning homosexuality, they also tell us not to discriminate the transgender and treat the transgender equally. But in Marriage and Family Law, they ban the marriage between transgender. This shows that the government is hypocritical. This negative attitude of the government creates suffering for transgender people. They are laughed at and criticised by public.

They are people. They have the right to choose to become their own man. I think it's brave because they can admit themselves, against public opinion. They can face to face with the destiny, and are willing to die for being themselves. Their lives changed a lot after the day they make their desire come true. After setting up the miracle of their fate, these women come back to live in normal society and they hope that they will be treated normally. But, will they?