So, thank goodness you're not a transsexual.

First, click on this article and read. . .

Source:
www.opednews.com

Now,let's get personal.  I am a transsexual, a pre-op transsexual to be specific.  What that means to the uninitiated  is that I have not undergone gender-reassignment-surgery otherwise known as GRS.  I haven't because I can't afford it.  Medicare won't pay for it even though it is the recommended procedure for my condition acknowledged by the AMA and all the psychs, therapists and gender counselors that I've had the pleasure of spilling my guts to. (among other probes and fondles) There are some insurance companies that will pay for GRS, mostly the ones subscribed to by large corporations who see beyond gender discrimination, but not our Federally supported health insurance run by regressive, unenlightened bureaucrats. But that's a rant for another time.
I began my ingestion of hormones , HRT, (hormone replacement therapy) more than seven years ago under strict
supervision of doctors at the Callen-Lourde Clinic in NYC.  Before I could start, however, I had to get evaluations from at least two mental health professionals, one Psychiatrist and one Psychologist to satisfy and comply with the "Standards of Care" for transsexuals adapted from the studies and developed procedures of Dr. Harry Benjamin.  Those going through transition call this "Jumping through the hoops".  Part of my hoop-jumping was being lectured at least three times about the possible life-threatening dangers of being pumped full of estrogen at the levels of a teenager along with a huge dose of anti-androgen (testosterone suppressant) in order to physically change my prison of a male body into a hopefully passable or at least somewhat more comfortable female one.  With all the horrible side affects that could happen, cancers, strokes, heart failure mentioned in the previous article why would anyone chose to do this?  Because when a transsexual is facing this "choice", the only other option is not to go on living at all.
After GRS the estrogen levels can be reduced and the anti-androgen eliminated but not until then which means that those of us who can't afford the operation must continue to live with the risks, die from them, or until the depression of living in an incomplete state takes its toll and we go back to door number two.