Life, Law, Gender

Frances

(Original post: 8/31/04)

When I was confirmed in the Catholic church I took the name Francis.

Wasn't it just two weeks ago that we worried about Hurricane Charley? Now, it seems Frances, another dangerous Category 4 hurricane, is bearing down on the United States, Florida specifically. Moreover, it's forecast (at this point) to cross Florida and arrive near my home in St. Petersburg by this weekend. At least this time, I'll be there

Transsexual Surgery Insurance - Part I

(Original entry 8/29/04)

This entry is a so long that AOL requires that it be split. I apologize for that, but I was asked to write it and I think it’s an important topic of discussion. I know most of you will be bored to tears – just skip this entry if it doesn’t appeal to you. BTW, I have begun, during this break between semesters, of evaluating an alternative to AOL Journals for my blog. [Ed note: As you now see; I've completed that process!)

Over a month ago (and then in a follow-up comment to this post), I got an e-mail from a person who lived in San Francisco when that city amended its city employees insurance policy to cover transsexual health care, including surgery. She said that she did not understand that decision as she felt it was a personal choice; she asked me to comment on it. I will do that now.

First, the disclaimers. As she correctly pointed out in her e-mail to me I am NOT the spokesperson for the transsexual community. Also, I am not conversant in all the issues surrounding this topic and I don’t have access to all the necessary statistics to give a truly objective and reasoned analysis. This is, therefore, just one (transsexual) woman’s opinion. Also, I am most intimately familiar with the process for a Male-to-Female (MTF) transsexual, but I will comment where I am able on the differences from my Female-to-Male (FTM) brethren.

Should transsexual surgery be covered under group insurance plans? Asked another way – should the rest of society bear the cost of a surgical intervention to “correct” a person’s dissatisfaction with his/her sex or societal sex role?

What are the things that would be relevant to understand in answering such a question? For starters, what about:

· a basic understanding of transsexualism
· the cost of transsexual treatment protocol and surgery
· the incidence of transsexualism in society, or more simply in a given group insurance plan?

Obviously, I cannot do justice to any of those topics in this little space, but the question was about my opinion, so I will share that.

Transsexual Surgery Insurance - Part II

(Original post: 8/29)

Cost of Transgender Care and Surgery

The cost of “the surgery” alone is not unreasonable. One site, for Dr. Marci Bowers, of Trinidad, CO quotes $14,000 for genital surgery for an MTF. The total cost for medical intervention, for a “typical” MTF patient might, then, look something like this:

Psychological evaluations and treatment (2x month for 2 years)	$4,800
Endocrinologist (initial appt., plus 4 follow-ups in first 2 years, including blood work	2,000
2nd psychiatric opinion (can often be obtained in single interview)	300
Electrolysis (most MTFs don’t want to be the “bearded lady” in the circus; this procedure routinely takes up to two years, often longer; I used $30/hour * 100 hours, it often costs more)	3,000
Hormone prescription (for 2 years – after that, the cost is the same as for any other post-menopausal woman)	3,120
Breast augmentation (not necessary for all, but certainly for most – most of us can expect to be about 1 cup size smaller than our mothers and other female relatives; this is a key secondary sexual characteristic. Most women find it important to have breasts)	4,500
Tracheal shave (A sometimes dangerous procedure that many choose to not have. It is a procedure for shaving the prominent “Adam’s apple” that many genetic men have. I didn’t, so I didn’t worry about this).	3,200
Genital Surgery	14,000
Facial feminizationsurgery (Again, optional for many, but not for some. I chose to not do this. Costs vary widely; I was once quoted $15,000, so that’s what I used, but I know of people who paid much more)	15,000
Total (excluding FFS)	$34,920

[UPDATE: Conformed above to a table]

This, obviously, excludes all the incidental costs of transition (and of actually getting to your surgeon and the after-care). Female-to-male surgeries are extensive and much more expensive. Because of the inadequacies of those surgeries, many men are left with only partial options.

Girly Stuff

(Original post 8/27/04)

Every once in a while you just gotta do something fun, just for yourself. Today, I had a pedicure, got my nails done, took myself out for a nice lunch and went shopping. Not only did I shop, I bought! Found three pretty shirts.

Then, I came home, caught up on blogs, chatted with my youngest kidling and watched a movie. Energy Spatula was blogging about Begging The Question and introduced her entry with this title. By fun coincidence, the movie that came on the television was "Top Gun".

I painted my toenails, and bought girly shirts that make my curves look curvier. Then I watched a movie with some seriously hot men in it. I wonder what that says about me? Do real women do this stuff?

Je Suis Fini

(Original post date 8/26/04)

And the last final is history. I'm a free woman for 11 days!

This exam was much harder than the last. I am certain I passed but I'll be surprised if I didn't get a 'C' on the essay part (worth 40%). I may have done better on the multiple choice this morning (worth 60%). Either way, the first semester of the first year of law school is done.

I'm a happy camper.

An Interesting Life

(Original post date 8/25/04)

I had dinner last night with a couple of classmates. It was really nice. Both really nice people. Our conversation was wide-ranging. We even discussed the day's Torts exam, although we did not try to dissect it and compare answers, but merely joked about the various hypotheticals. Somewhere in the conversation, M asked me how my presentation went and D asked me what I presented and to whom. So, of course, that led to a conversation about transgenderism (short-lived, thank God). Later, we were talking about travel and languages (I speak only English - stupid American; although I used to be semi-proficient in sign language and could probably pick it up again). We also talked about military service and business careers inter alia (how cool is that term?).

Long story short - somewhere near the end of the dinner, D looked at me and said something like "wow, you've had an interesting life."

Well, yes, I have had. And I am still having. And I hope to always have. There is a Chinese curse that goes something like "may you live in interesting times." Sometimes I see my life as a curse. More often than not, I see it as a blessing. What an exciting ride it's been thus far. Lots of ups; lots of downs -- though the ups have far outweighed the downs (that's mostly, of course, a matter of choice of perspective). If there is nothing else that can be said about me, I believe this statement is true: I've lived my life; I took it on and didn't just wait for it to happen.

Transmogriflaw is about to become a mom. Her posts about that, and my thoughts about last night's comments in relation to my life caused me to reflect a bit on the birth of my children. Nothing in my life compares to that. My kids may never know how truly deeply I treasure them, but they are the absolute best things in my life. I love them so. (Now, if I could just get them to call more often (when they are not calling for money!))

[Edit] Hey C! The middle one (my eldest) is studying to be an engineer, poor thing.