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From the Cover
This ground-breaking book is the first to address transsexual
issues in nonmedical language.
Many hard-to-ask questions are candidly answered in Transsexuals
by clinical psychologist Dr. Gerald Ramsey. Among the issues
discussed are:
What is a transsexual?
How does transsexuality most commonly affect families?
What actually happens during transsexual surgery - male to
female and female to male?
What is required for a diagnosis of transsexuality?
What, when, and how should transsexuals tell their families?
What kinds of biases do physicians and therapists bring to
their work with transsexuals?
How often to transsexuals regret their decision to undergo
surgery?
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"Dr. Ramsey has written a very comprehensive work, dealing
with all aspects of the difficult path that transsexuals travel.
It's a must read for students and clinicians who work with transsexuals,
and for anyone who reaches out to them: - Sheila Kirk, M.D.,
International Foundation for Gender Education
"Transsexuals provides a very important source
of rehabilitative information for transsexuals and for those
with whom they live, work, and socialize.: - John Money, Ph.D.,
Professor of Medical Psychology and Pediatrics Emeritus, Johns
Hopkins University and Hospital |
Table of Contents
PART 1: BOUNDARIES, DEFINITIONS, STEREOTYPES
- What is gender dysphoria? What is a transsexual?
- What is the difference between a transsexual and a transvestite?
- What is necessary for a diagnosis of transsexuality?
- Even if a person identifies as a "transsexual,"
isn't he or she really a homosexual?
- What does the term "intersex" mean?
- Would a legitimate surgery team be likely to operate on any
and all persons who meet the diagnostic criteria for transsexuality?
- Are there more male than female transsexuals?
- It makes me angry that gender problems are called "disorders."
How do you feel about such diagnoses?
- Is transsexuality strictly a Western phenomenon?
PART 2: FAMILY, FRIENDS, LOVERS
- I think you are an evil S.O.B. If it wasn't for "doctors"
like you, my baby wouldn't be getting butchered up. How
can you live with yourself?
- It's easy for you doctors to pontificate, but how would you
feel if your own child were a transsexual?
- My son is a decorated Marine, the father of three healthy
children and a Christian. How can be possibly be a "she"?
- What did I do to make my child a transsexual?
- I have prayed and prayed for my daughter, and she still wants
to become a man. What else can I do?
- How does transsexuality most commonly affect families?
- When and how should I tell my family I am a transsexual?
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Table of Contents
(cont'd)
- My daddy is a girl now, clothes and all. Does that
mean I'm going to become a girl, too?
- My daughter is a transsexual,. Why is she so obsessed
with sex?
- I am in love with a transsexual. After surgery, what
are the odds we'll stay together?
- I am a preoperative transsexual. At what point should
I tell my new sweetheart about my situation?
- My fifteen-year-old son has been in analysis since he was
four. Why, after ten-plus years of therapy, does he still
want to be a girl?
- My daughter was molested when she was three years old.
Is that why she wants to be a boy?
- I am a female-to-male transsexual who has recently completed
surgery. How do I approach my employer about using the
men's bathroom?
- How do you know whether to call a transsexual "he"
or "she"?
PART 3: PHILOSOPHICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SPIRITUAL ISSUES
- How confident are you that transsexuality is a reality?
Do you have any ethical or moral qualms about what you do?
- How do child, adolescent and adult transsexuals present themselves
to the therapist?
- At what age may a person be regarded as a candidate for surgery?
- How does the young child experience transsexuality?
- What are the adolescent years like for the transsexual?
- What is meant by the terms "superman" and "superwoman"?
- What about depression and suicide among transsexuals?
- In your experience, what kinds of biases do physicians and
therapists bring to their work with transsexuals?
- Will the doctors think I am not a transsexual if I refuse
to take hormones?
- I am a candidate for sex-reassignment surgery, and I do masturbate.
Does this mean I am not a transsexual?
- Although I have very little interest in sex, I feel I am
a very sexual person. Does that make sense?
- Why should I continue to see my therapist after I've completed
surgery?
- What about God? Will I go to hell for being a transsexual
- especially if I elect to undergo reassignment surgery?
PART 4: PREPARATIONS
- Cross-Dressing: How does one begin?
- Along with cross-dressing, what else can I do to disguise
my birth sex?
- I have begun to experiment with cross-dressing, but find
that I am not yet comfortable with my new - and evolving - sexual
and social identity. How can I bring myself up to speed
on dating?
- Can a transsexual have a baby of his or her own?
- What about adoption?
- How do I get my birth certificate and other legal documents
changed to reflect my new gender?
- Why should I have to go through a committee to have plastic
surgery on my genitals? I didn't need anyone's permission
to get my nose job!
- In general, what steps are followed by gender committees?
- Do the criteria for who is a candidate for surgery change
from committee to committee?
- I understand the gender team will want a detailed sexual
history. What does this involve?
- Why are pre-surgical visits with the gender team so important?
- How commonly do transsexuals wind up regretting their decision
to undergo surgery?
- Do you encourage transsexuals to reevaluate their sexual
orientations?
- Why are therapy and surgery so expensive?
- Why don't insurance companies cover transsexual surgery?
PART 5: NUTS AND BOLTS
- Will you describe and discuss transsexual surgery?
- How do surgeons build a penis? What are some of the
risks and complications?
- How do surgeons build a vagina?
- What was that about orgasm?
- What other feminizing or masculinizing surgical procedures
are common?
- What are the positive and negative effects of hormone treatment?
- I am a transsexual, but I do not wish to undergo hormone
treatment or surgical reassignment. Am I being reasonable?
- What is the future of transsexual treatment?
- What is the Harry Benjamin Society?
EPILOGUE: Two decades later
APPENDIXES
- Gender Identity Disorders
- Standards of Care
- Articles on Hormone Studies
- Articles on Female-to-Male Surgery
- Articles on Male-to-Female Surgery
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